On October 7, 2013, almost 900 people attended the 12th Annual Nancy Owens Memorial Foundation Luncheon at The Westin Galleria. The luncheon, with the largest attendance in the Foundation’s history, enabled the foundation to impact the community with energy and enthusiasm and raise awareness about breast cancer.
At the luncheon, the foundation donated $100,000 to three research projects. Dr. Kent Osborne and Dr. Eric Chang from the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Anthony Lucci from the University of Texas MD Anderson, and Dr. Alessandro Grattoni with The Department of Nanomedicine with the Houston Methodist Research Institute, accepted the generous check on behalf of their organizations. This brings the grand total of monies donated by the foundation to more than $1.2 million.
The Nancy Owens Memorial Foundation was created in memory of Nancy Owens, a much-loved and well-respected icon in the Houston real estate industry. Owens lost her courageous 20-year battle with breast cancer in September 2001. One of Owens’ final wishes, if she had survived her battle with cancer, was to dedicate a large part of her life to the fight against breast cancer and the continued advancement of its research toward finding a cure. It is that very dream that lives on today.
The luncheon opened with a commemorative video, which celebrated the life of Nancy Owens and the continued success of the foundation created in Owens’ name and honor. Ilona Carson with KTRK-TV (Ch. 13) hosted the event as MC and announced the foundation’s success and its continued commitment to raising additional funds throughout the year through the foundation’s annual “Swing for the Cure” Golf Tournament. The 2014 golf tournament will be held April 7 at Sweetwater Country Club.
The foundation receives community-wide support and during the luncheon, several accolades were given. The foundation particularly was grateful to Mike Huff with Prudential Anderson Properties for his generosity at the Diamond level sponsorship (a $15,000 contribution) this year. Also thanked was Jennifer Hernandez with Patriot Bank Mortgage, who generously donated at the Platinum level (a $10,000 contribution). Also recognized were the Houston Chronicle, media sponsor, and the Houston Association of Realtors, professional sponsor, for their continued support.
The guest speaker for the luncheon was Martina Navratilova. As a champion on and off the court, Navratilova is not only a tennis legend, but an inspirational leader who demonstrates tenacity, candor and motivation. Among the best tennis players ever to step on the court, Navratilova amassed an unmatched number of professional records over the course of a career that spanned four decades. She has won 59 Grand Slam crowns, a record nine Wimbledon singles champions, and overcame the odds to become both one of the most successful tennis players ever and an equally successful leader.
Navratilova spoke about her journey to success and how the lessons she learned carried her through her award winning tennis career and fight against breast cancer. She touched on the “five ways to be good at your worst.” Navratilova is currently cancer free and has retired from being a tennis champion, however she exclaimed that “she will never retire from being a champion of gay rights, women’s rights, human rights, animal rights … All rights!” Foundation officials said all attendees left the event raving about Navratilova’s message.
This year, the annual “Update from the Lab” was printed in the program compliments of Dr. C. Kent Osborne with Baylor College of Medicine. In his words, “It has been an exciting time in breast cancer research as several new, and very promising, drugs have become available to women fighting breast cancer.”
Osborne, director of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center and the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor College of Medicine, said a less toxic, therapeutic option is on the horizon for HER2-positive breast cancer patients, who comprise approximately 25 percent of breast cancer diagnoses. Researchers within the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Cencer have found that the combination of two targeted drugs, lapatinib (Tykerb) and trastuzumab (Herceptin), is effective in treating HER2-positive breast cancer.
Another advance for HER2-positive patients is the FDA’s approval of two new drugs. The first is pertuzumab (Perjeta), which is combined with trastuzumab and chemotherapy to treat women with late-stage, metastatic breast cancer. There also have been exciting developments for women with ER-positive breast cancer, which comprises about 70 percent of breast cancer. A new class of drugs called CDK4/6 inhibitors has shown great promise in making anti-estrogen therapy more effective by targeting an important mechanism of resistance in cancer cells. In short, these new drugs are getting us closer to the goal of more personalized treatments, tailored specifically for each patient and each breast cancer, while sparing many women the side effects and toxicity of traditional chemotherapy.
Eric Chang, Ph.D. at BCM, will receive a portion of the 2013 proceeds for his research that aims to verify a novel therapeutic target for triple-negative breast cancer, a very aggressive form of breast cancer that is responsible for approximately one-third of diagnosed cases.
The objective of targeting N-Ras as a key growth pathway to eradicate basal-like/triple negative breast cancer is to uncover a key mechanism for regulating the development of basal-like/triple negative breast cancer, the most aggressive form of breast cancer and which lacks targeted therapy. This project centers on the N-Ras protein, which we hypothesize to be selectively overexpressed in the type of breast cancer and thus controls the growth and progression of the tumor.
Anthony Lucci Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S., associate professor in the Department of Surgical Oncology, at the University of Texas MD Anderson, will receive the a portion of the 2013 proceeds for his research in developing ways to identify, characterize and eradicate breast cancer micrometastases.
About one-third of patients with breast cancer have metastases, or cells that have spread from their original tumors to other parts of the body, that are too small to be detected by current diagnostic test. These micrometastases are often resistant to conventional therapies and continue to grow even after treatment of the primary tumors.
Lucci is currently initiating the first clinical trial in the United States to offer a therapy specifically targeted at eradicating CTCs and DTCs, which he notes “has the potential to improve survival within the very near future, since metastases ultimately determine the outcome from breast cancer.”
Dr. Alessandro Grattoni with The Department of Nanomedicine with the Houston Methodist Research Institute, also will receive a portion of the 2013 proceeds for his research titled NanoGland for Breast Cancer Prevention.
The study will examine if local delivery of letrozole and exemestane by nDS is more effective for cancer prevention as compared to oral administration.
Specifically, they hypothesize that the nDS implant can provide a constant, sustained, and low-dose local delivery of aromatase inhibitors in breast tissues, significantly reducing estrogen dependent epithelial cell proliferation, while minimizing systemic exposure.
Another highlight at this year’s luncheon was the presentation of the “Nancy Owens Spirit of Courage Award,” which reflects the courage of an extraordinary individual in the community who has fought the battle against cancer and won.
This year’s award was presented to Raghda Henthorne. Henthorne thanked her family and friends who guided her through the journey. Her remarks brought the crowd to their feet. Henthorne received a Waterford crystal Angel.
Attendees had several opportunities to support the foundation by purchasing raffle tickets, and bidding on silent auction items. The Foundation expressed a very special thank you to all who generously donated items and services.
The Foundation’s planning committee is made up of community members whose lives have all been touched by Nancy Owens, including some of her closest friends, whose tireless efforts, dedication and love of Nancy has been the driving force behind the success of the foundation.
The committee members are: Amy Bernstein, Cheri Fama, Debera Fontenot, Gail Evans, Gloria Moorman, Jennifer Hernandez, Katherine Stewart, Katie Aguilar, Leash Yu, Lynn Mather, Mary Piper, Mariella Massa, Mike McFarland, Peggie Kohnert, Phil Rader, Rhagda Henthorne, Robin Mueck, Terri Guerra and Vicki Fullerton.