Bid for Hope VII Raises Funds for Breast Cancer Research

By Janice Lane Palko

Diana Napper wants answers, and if the past is any indication, she’s not going to rest until she gets them.  Since the 1990s, Napper has been raising money for breast cancer research, and it is her goal to find the answers to such questions as:  What causes breast cancer?  How can it be prevented?  How do we cure it?

In recent years, she’s sharpened her focus on the causes and treatment of breast cancer in women of reproductive age, developing and funding purpose-driven research aimed at preventing and curing the disease in this segment of the female population.  When breast cancer strikes younger women, it is often more virulent.  “With the funds we’ve raised, I believe we are turning the bend on this disease,” Napper said.  

Napper has chosen to concentrate her efforts on breast cancer in pre-menopausal women because she knows from personal experience how devastating the disease is when diagnosed in younger women.  Her best friend, Carol Jo Weiss Friedman, succumbed to it on Christmas Eve in 1990.  Diana had always dreamed of opening a jewelry business, and before her death, Carol Jo made Diana promise to pursue that dream, encouraging her to take the money when she became successful and open a hospice in her name.

With the memory of her friend in mind, Napper designed a pin that captured the pain and emotion that she and her friend had gone through.  Designed with a teardrop Swarovski crystal, which symbolized the tears shed over the disease, and topped with a pearl representing hope, the “Glimmer of Hope” pin was born.  It has become the symbol of the cure for her foundation.  Since 1994, she has sold more than 14,000 pins and has raised over $900,000 for breast cancer research.

Napper’s fundraising efforts have not been limited to selling the pin; she has added a bracelet and has held many events to acquire dollars for breast cancer research.  For the past six years, The Glimmer of Hope Foundation has been hosting the Bid for Hope, its main fundraising event.  This the year the Bid for Hope VII will be held on Monday, October 27, at Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36. 

Former Steeler Alan Faneca and wife Julie have done yeoman’s duty hosting the event in the past, but when Faneca was picked up by the New York Jets, Heath Miller and wife Katie took the hand-off from the Fanecas, graciously stepping in as this year’s hosts.

Although Faneca is no longer a Steeler, he and Julie are still committed to Bid for Hope.  This year’s event promises to be even better than the previous year’s.  “We have twice as many sponsors as last year,” Napper said.  “People know our reputation and are eager to help us beat this disease.”

Colleges are coming on board to help too.  “The Hillman Cancer Research Center needed a microscope that costs $75,000, and local fraternities and sororities have taken on this cause.  They will be selling Sarris candies in an effort called Candies for the Cure, that will help to purchase this microscope for the research center,” Napper said.  “We have five colleges involved to date and are looking for more.”

The funds raised by the Glimmer of Hope Foundation have been instrumental in underwriting breast cancer research, specifically funding the breast cancer research study of women under 40.  At the present, research on breast cancer in this population is not widespread.

According to researcher Paniti Sukumvanich, M.D., who has been conducting research at Magee-Womens Research Institute on the issues related to younger women and breast cancer, in 2008, over 180,000 will be diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.S.  There are more than 250,000 women under 40 living with the breast cancer, and it is estimated that more than 11,000 women in this age bracket will develop breast cancer in the coming year. 

Younger women are more commonly diagnosed with advanced disease compared to older women.  One out of every three women less than 40 years old will have positive lymph nodes at the time of diagnosis compared to only one out of every ten women greater than 70 years of age at diagnosis.  Younger women are also more likely to be diagnosed with more aggressive tumor types.

Breast cancer treatment often has a greater impact on the quality of life of younger women. For example:

• younger women are more likely to receive chemotherapy than older women
  younger
• women often have children in the house to care for during treatment
• infertility can result secondary to chemotherapy
• sexual dysfunction secondary to chemotherapy is more common in younger women
• depression occurs more frequently in younger women with breast cancer, than in older women
• younger women worry about what will happen to their children if they don’t survive 

Other questions also remain unanswered in the treatment of breast cancer in younger women.  For example, researchers do not really know how much chemotherapy for breast cancer impacts fertility. In fact, there is very little data on whether or not if it is even safe to get pregnant after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Given the fact that tens of thousands of women of reproductive age are diagnosed with breast cancer each year and that women are increasingly postponing childbearing, finding answers to these questions and raising the awareness of younger women and physicians about breast cancer in younger women should be a national priority.

“We are asking specific questions, and we are getting answers,” Napper said.  “Support what you know and know what you support is our aim.”

For more information on the Glimmer of Hope Foundation or to order tickets for the Bid for Hope VII, visit:  http://symbolofthecure.com. 

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