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L.A. Cancer Challenge Raising Awareness About Pancreatic Cancer · The iHeart SoCal Show

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  Speaker 1: Lisa Fox here. It's the I Heart SoCal Show. Can
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: you save the date for Sunday, October 25th? It's time
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  Speaker 1: for the 29th annual LA Cancer Challenge 5K Run Walk.
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  Speaker 1: SoCal's longest running Halloween fundraiser heading back to UCLA. It's
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  Speaker 1: a family-friendly, spooktacular charity event that benefits the Hirshberg Foundation,
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  Speaker 1: for pancreatic cancer research. And by the way, it's also
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  Speaker 1: the first pancreatic cancer foundation established here in the US
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  Speaker 1: by the lady on the phone with us, currently housing
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  Speaker 1: three collaborative laboratories right there on campus at UCLA. It's
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  Speaker 1: a super fun way to come together and make a
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  Speaker 1: huge impact for those suffering with this terrible disease and
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  Speaker 1: to help advance treatments and early detection and research.
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  Speaker 2: LACancerChallenge.com for all the info.
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  Speaker 1: But on the tell us more is the executive director
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  Speaker 1: of the Hirschberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, Lisa Mannheim.
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  Speaker 3: Yay, thank you.
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  Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, it's a biggie. Thank you so much.
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  Speaker 2: 29 years, isn't that crazy? Every time we say the
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  Speaker 2: numbers each year, like 29.
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  Speaker 3: I know, I know. We are so excited. I mean, 29, but...
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  Speaker 3: But I feel like we just keep getting better if
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  Speaker 3: that's possible. We're so excited for this year. We're always
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  Speaker 3: trying to get better, do it bigger, better, more organized,
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  Speaker 3: more offerings. And this year is no exception. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: we've got our finish line donut wall after you run.
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  Speaker 2: That's a crowd favorite.
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  Speaker 3: Crowd favorite. Super exciting health and fitness expo with lots
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  Speaker 3: of free products and our vendors like Big Five and...
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  Speaker 3: Vitamin Water are going to be there. We've got our
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  Speaker 3: Candyland Kids Zone with all sorts of activities for the kids.
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  Speaker 3: And of course, the walk itself, which is walk or run,
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  Speaker 3: which is timed if you want it, if you're in
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  Speaker 3: for the speed challenge, or you can walk it and
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  Speaker 3: it's on the beautiful campus of UCLA. It's such a
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  Speaker 3: great way to... way to get some exercise, do some good,
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  Speaker 3: and really, I think, dive into the emotion of the day.
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  Speaker 3: There's lots of really super exciting things going on in
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  Speaker 3: the world of pancreatic cancer research and So we're super
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  Speaker 3: excited to be able to celebrate those things and, again,
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  Speaker 3: bring the community together.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. That's why I love talking to you every year.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, not many diseases are able
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  Speaker 1: to announce advancements or things that have happened for the
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  Speaker 1: better of those who are suffering.
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  Speaker 2: And that's what is exciting because, you.
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  Speaker 1: Know, this organization that you started, that your family started
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  Speaker 1: on behalf of or in honor of your late stepfather,
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  Speaker 1: Ron Hirschberg, And I mean, gosh, how much has advanced
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  Speaker 1: in decades, your hard work, your labor of love, so
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  Speaker 1: to speak, right there at UCLA. And then all these
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  Speaker 1: incredible people you've been collaborating with and you're making things happen.
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  Speaker 1: You always told me in the beginning when this happened
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  Speaker 1: to your stepdad. It was so fast. By the time
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  Speaker 1: he got diagnosed, it was too late. He went pretty fast.
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  Speaker 1: And your mom was like, oh, my gosh, this is terrible.
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  Speaker 1: This can't be happening to other families. We have to
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  Speaker 1: let's donate some money to a pancreatic cancer research center.
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  Speaker 2: Oh, wait, there aren't any. And you guys started one.
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  Speaker 2: And look how far you've come since then.
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  Speaker 3: Wow. It's super exciting. We have what feels like for
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  Speaker 3: the first five. 20 years or so, we were on
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  Speaker 3: a slow train that we knew that good work was happening.
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  Speaker 3: We knew that researchers were discovering things. The work that
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  Speaker 3: they were doing was going to make a difference, but
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  Speaker 3: there wasn't any big announcement when people are asking, what's new?
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  Speaker 3: This year, most recently, there has been a lot of
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  Speaker 3: news about pancreatic cancer and And while the news is
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  Speaker 3: super exciting and seems like we are at the cusp
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  Speaker 3: of a major time of development, yes, many developments in this,
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  Speaker 3: it's like we put in almost 30 years of work.
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  Speaker 3: And now there are so many things bubbling up that
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  Speaker 3: have promised more so than ever before. The biggest one
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  Speaker 3: is this drug that received a lot of media attention
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  Speaker 3: over the last few months called Deraxanracib, which just received
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  Speaker 3: FDA approval. And it showed that it increased overall survival
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  Speaker 3: from somebody who had pancreatic cancer to with standard chemotherapy
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  Speaker 3: from six and a half months to over 13 months.
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  Speaker 2: All right.
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  Speaker 3: So while this, yeah, so while this is.
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  Speaker 2: We'll take it. We'll take it. That's a step in
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  Speaker 2: the right direction. More time with our loved ones.
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  Speaker 3: It's a step in the right direction.
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  Speaker 4: It's the biggest step in any direction that we've had,
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  Speaker 4: I would say, in the field of pancreatic cancer, but
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  Speaker 4: it's opened up a whole lot of additional work and
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  Speaker 4: funding and focus.
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  Speaker 3: On what that drug is doing, which is blocking RAF,
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  Speaker 3: which is a pathway that helps cancer cells grow. And
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  Speaker 3: it was thought to be undruggable that you wouldn't be
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  Speaker 3: able to stop KRAS. And now we're, you wouldn't be
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  Speaker 3: able to stop a KRAS mutation or RAS mutation. And
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  Speaker 3: here's this first drug that was able to stop it.
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  Speaker 3: And so.
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  Speaker 2: That is so exciting.
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  Speaker 1: I feel like this conversation should inspire people to want
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  Speaker 1: to become scientists, you know, work in the lab until
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  Speaker 1: you could find a cure for these diseases that are
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  Speaker 1: taking our loved ones, you know, be the guy or
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  Speaker 1: girl that's in the lab that's worked so hard for
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  Speaker 1: years or however long it takes, but to discover or
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  Speaker 1: create these incredible breakthroughs to save lives, just, oh, how
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  Speaker 1: exciting and groundbreaking.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, between drug development and exciting clinical trials,
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  Speaker 3: blood tests that are in the work, AI that's making
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  Speaker 3: a difference, vaccines that are on the shelves, you know,
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  Speaker 3: being worked on. I mean, there's a lot of positives
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  Speaker 3: for a disease that remains very, very challenging. So that's
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  Speaker 3: why we're here. The serving patients who are searching for
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  Speaker 3: guidelines on where to begin when they've been diagnosed, what
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  Speaker 3: kind of resources can we provide for them, what type
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  Speaker 3: of information, videos, events, connections can we share with those
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  Speaker 3: to help through this difficult diagnosis.
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  Speaker 2: Mm-hmm.
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  Speaker 3: All the more reason why we need the LA Cancer
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  Speaker 3: Challenge so desperately. We do. We do.
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  Speaker 2: We need bodies. We need people out there. People out there.
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  Speaker 3: Exactly. Exactly.
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  Speaker 2: Anything in the realm of earlier detection?
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  Speaker 1: Because we know that by the time symptoms appear in
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  Speaker 1: terms of a person having pancreatic cancer, it's usually too late.
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  Speaker 1: And the symptoms are not super over-the-top alarming. It's like
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  Speaker 1: pain in your back or upper abdomen or... a little
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  Speaker 1: bit of jaundice, unexplained weight loss or loss of appetite,
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  Speaker 1: nausea or upset stomach fatigue. I mean, those symptoms seem
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  Speaker 1: like they could mean a whole bunch of things or
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  Speaker 1: a whole bunch of nothing. How would we know it's
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  Speaker 1: pancreatic cancer until it's too late? So what's being done
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  Speaker 1: about early detection? Any help there?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 3: If you can diagnose it early, the five-year survival rate
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  Speaker 3: jumps from 13%, I think, up to 44%. So yeah,
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  Speaker 3: there's a lot of work being done in this space.
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  Speaker 3: There are blood tests, there are liquid biopsies that are
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  Speaker 3: showing promise for early detection. There's a tests from a
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  Speaker 3: company called Gallery, which showed significant improvement. It showed that
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  Speaker 3: the test shifted diagnosis earlier and reduced the number of
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  Speaker 3: stage four cancers that were found. So this is a
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  Speaker 3: hopeful sign for cancers like ours where there is no
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  Speaker 3: screening test. So again, all positives. It just in the
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  Speaker 3: last few weeks cleared a milestone when the All of
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  Speaker 3: these sort of positives in early detection are really starting
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  Speaker 3: to come to the forefront. I was just at an
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  Speaker 3: American Academy of Cancer Researchers pancreas conference speaking to a
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  Speaker 3: radiologist about AI used to detect cancers, and he said
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  Speaker 3: that he's working on a project called and thinks that
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  Speaker 3: the AI can detect it three years earlier than his eye,
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  Speaker 3: his naked eye could detect.
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  Speaker 1: The only time AI could be a good thing, right?
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  Speaker 1: The only time in science for helping people live and
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  Speaker 1: curing diseases.
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  Speaker 2: I'm all for that.
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  Speaker 3: Absolutely. Absolutely. It's where you can't ignore how AI is
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  Speaker 3: going to impact early detection of these type of diseases.
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  Speaker 3: And since we know early detection is key, it's largely significant.
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  Speaker 3: And not to mention how they're able to AI, researchers
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  Speaker 3: are using AI every day to help take the data
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  Speaker 3: and read it, synthesize it, et cetera.
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  Speaker 1: And all these things cost money. That's why we're going
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  Speaker 1: to raise that money. In 29 years, you've raised over
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  Speaker 1: $ 12 million.
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  Speaker 2: With this walk, this run walk. So that's everybody coming together.
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  Speaker 3: L.A.
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  Speaker 1: Cancer Challenge happening on Sunday, October the 25th right there
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  Speaker 1: at the beautiful UCLA campus. And no matter how big
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  Speaker 1: or small your donation may be to this cause, or
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  Speaker 1: if you get signed up, how big or small your
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  Speaker 1: fundraising efforts may turn out to be, she's got some
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  Speaker 1: hardcore fundraisers that I see on the website, lacancerchallenge.com. And wow,
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  Speaker 1: these people are raising a ton of money.
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  Speaker 4: I know.
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  Speaker 1: Doug Atkin, last I looked, he raised over $ 78, 000.
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  Speaker 3: Wow.
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  Speaker 2: Howard Guzman.
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  Speaker 3: And he's been doing it all 29 years. It's crazy.
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  Speaker 1: Now, probably personally affected by someone in his family, right?
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  Speaker 2: Pancreatic cancer?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, many. Many friends. Oh. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Howard Guzman.
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  Speaker 3: It's not just for one person.
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  Speaker 4: Mm-hmm.
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  Speaker 2: And then Howard Gussman, he's already raised over $ 19, 000. Ellie Feagin, $ 17, 000. Feagin.
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  Speaker 2: The teams, the Marvins Marvels, over $ 28, 000. I mean, that's major.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Obviously, people are mad that their loved one has been
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  Speaker 1: taken away or their friends have been taken away.
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  Speaker 2: So what do we do about it? We get angry
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  Speaker 2: and we raise... that money and put the, put the money.
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  Speaker 1: In the research dollars behind it and get out there
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  Speaker 1: and throw on a Halloween costume and get around all
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  Speaker 1: the other people who have also been affected by pancreatic cancer.
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  Speaker 1: And you feel this like sense of solidarity, peace. And,
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  Speaker 1: you know, because pancreatic cancer and cancer is such a
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  Speaker 1: not fun thing to deal with, you make this event
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  Speaker 1: fun so that we want to come and be with
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  Speaker 1: our people and be in solidarity and then raise the
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  Speaker 1: money to make a difference like you guys are on
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  Speaker 1: the brink of these breakthroughs and advancements.
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  Speaker 2: Finally, after 30 years.
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  Speaker 1: And making such incredible headway and strides and on the
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  Speaker 1: brink of so much so many exciting things in the
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  Speaker 1: world of cancer and pancreatic cancer. thanks to the Hirshberg
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  Speaker 1: Foundation and everyone's hard work. Your collaborators, they're in the
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  Speaker 1: labs right there at UCLA, right? I'm sure they come
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  Speaker 1: and support on October 25th, right?
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  Speaker 3: They do. We've got a UCLA health team.
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  Speaker 4: Great.
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  Speaker 3: We are super excited about our honorary starter is an
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  Speaker 3: incredible survivor named Peter Lau, who's currently on that Derax
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  Speaker 3: and Rassab drug that I was just referring to. So
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  Speaker 3: he will give He's an incredible story. He's going to
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  Speaker 3: give some words of wisdom to people, words of inspiration
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  Speaker 3: as they head off on their 5K. And, yeah, very
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  Speaker 3: excited to see all the teams. I mean, both new
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  Speaker 3: and the teams that have been there year in and
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  Speaker 3: year out. It's an inspiring day. I think it's super uplifting.
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  Speaker 3: It's positive. We really are focusing on that day on
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  Speaker 3: all the good that we are doing by being there today.
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  Speaker 3: being together on that beautiful campus, enjoying making the most
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  Speaker 3: of the day before you get into the Halloween spirit.
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  Speaker 2: That's why I love that you combine it at this event.
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  Speaker 1: Halloween costumes are highly encouraged for adults, families, kids, and
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  Speaker 1: even your pets, right? I mean, people get all into
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  Speaker 1: it and come out and just make it a super
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  Speaker 1: fun day, again, in light of what people have to
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  Speaker 1: go through. You need to blow off some steam, have
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  Speaker 1: a little fun and be around your people and, you know,
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  Speaker 1: make a little entertaining special day with meaning that also
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  Speaker 1: raises as much money as possible. And it's super easy
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  Speaker 1: to go to LACancerChallenge.com. You can just make a donation
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  Speaker 1: in general. You can donate to Lisa Mannheim's team or
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  Speaker 1: to Lisa Mannheim. You can donate, you can create a team.
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  Speaker 1: you can grab some friends. If this cause is near
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  Speaker 1: and dear to your heart, definitely rally your friends and
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  Speaker 1: support and get that money going because we want to
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  Speaker 1: raise a couple hundred more thousand, right?
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  Speaker 2: Before the deadline.
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  Speaker 3: Exactly. We've got a ways to go, but we're going
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  Speaker 3: to get there with everybody's help. And again, you can walk,
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  Speaker 3: you can run, come in costume, don't come in costume.
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  Speaker 3: It's definitely family friendly. You don't need to be a
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  Speaker 3: fast runner. You just need to you know, want to
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  Speaker 3: make a difference and get yourself there on that Sunday
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  Speaker 3: morning at 9 a.m.
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  Speaker 1: Sunday morning, October 25th, UCLA campus. Do we walk at
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  Speaker 1: nine or we get there at nine?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we walk at nine. So get there beforehand.
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  Speaker 2: Eight o'clock hour.
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  Speaker 1: Parking's super easy. And you park right there. And then
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  Speaker 1: the walk's at 9. And then after the walk, everyone's
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  Speaker 1: going to hang out for a little bit and do
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  Speaker 1: the whole Fit Family Expo and hang out and do
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  Speaker 1: all the kids stuff and have the donut that they
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  Speaker 1: ran to.
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  Speaker 2: It's a 5K to a donut wall.
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  Speaker 3: Exactly. And donuts and all our vendors. We even have
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  Speaker 3: somebody donated pumpkins that we're going to be giving away. Oh, cute. Yes.
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  Speaker 3: We've got lots of surprises in store always at that
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  Speaker 3: and our expo.
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  Speaker 2: A very special day waiting for you at UCLA.
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  Speaker 1: October 25th, again, it's a fun day to rally the
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  Speaker 1: troops and bring people together, but also a day where
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  Speaker 1: we're fueling the important work behind it to help save
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  Speaker 1: lives and truly make a difference in the world of
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  Speaker 1: pancreatic cancer and those that.
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  Speaker 2: We love, the future of this disease. We hope we're
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  Speaker 2: going to crush it.
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  Speaker 1: It sounds like, you know, the way you're talking, Lisa,
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  Speaker 1: I want to crush this thing wide open and really
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  Speaker 1: pave the way for how it's going to be different
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  Speaker 1: for those in the future.
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  Speaker 2: Who may get diagnosed.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, this is a brighter future for this disease,
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  Speaker 1: thanks to all of your hard work and the money
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  Speaker 1: that's raised at this event. And any time throughout the year,
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  Speaker 1: of course, people can always give and learn more about
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  Speaker 1: what you're doing. Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, their
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  Speaker 1: website is pancreatic.org, pancreatic.org, to learn more about the disease
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  Speaker 1: and all their great work to conquer this thing, to
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  Speaker 1: bust it wide open. And then, of course, to join
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  Speaker 1: everybody on October the 25th at UCLA, the 29th Annual
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  Speaker 1: LA Cancer Challenge 5K Run Walk. Just a great way
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  Speaker 1: to come together, grab a fun costume, and come out
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  Speaker 1: and make a difference, raise whatever you can. If it's
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  Speaker 1: not $ 81, 000, it's okay. We could steal a couple hundred bucks.
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  Speaker 1: It all adds up, whether it's hundreds of thousands, thousands.
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  Speaker 1: We need it all to continue to keep making a
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  Speaker 1: difference with this disease. and the exciting things to come
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  Speaker 1: in the world of pancreatic cancer, right?
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  Speaker 3: Exactly. We're on the brink. We just need to keep pushing.
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  Speaker 2: Keep pushing.
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  Speaker 3: Indeed.
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  Speaker 2: Lisa Manheim.
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  Speaker 3: Keep running.
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  Speaker 2: Keep running. Run, people.
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  Speaker 3: Run.
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  Speaker 2: Lisa Manheim, thank you so much for all that you do.
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  Speaker 2: And again, people, get signed up. Learn more. Find out more.
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  Speaker 2: Be a part of it. LACancerChallenge.com for all the info.
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  Speaker 2: We hope to see you out there on the 25th.
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  Speaker 3: Yay.