FEATURE
Make an
The Ben and Catherine Ivy
Center for ADVANCED
BRAIN TUMOR TREATMENT
impact
The Swedish Neuroscience Institute attracts the best and brightest in the field of neurological medicine.
Here, surgeons assess a patient’s brain tumor.
T
h e w o r d s “ Yo u h a v e b r a i n
hope to discover something that
cancer” are usually followed by
can help our patients within the
a grave prognosis for patients with
next two to three years.”
glioblastoma, the most common
A focus of the Center that has
form of the disease, which took the
received national attention is the
life of Senator Edward Kennedy in
Ivy Glioblastoma Atlas Project
2009. Few patients survive more In 2008, The Ben and Catherine Ivy Foundation awarded a $4.4- (Ivy GAP). The Ivy GAP, launched
than three years. The newly named million research grant to launch the Ivy Glioblastoma Atlas Project in October 2009 in collaboration
Ben and Catherine Ivy Center for (GAP). Here, Dr. Greg Foltz and Catherine Ivy discuss program with the Allen Institute for Brain
goals for a video shoot promoting the Ivy GAP project.
Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment
Science, is supported by funding
offers new hope: As the first multifrom The Ben and Catherine Ivy
disciplinary community-based treatFoundation. This unique project,
ment and research center in the
slated for completion in 2013, will
Pacific Northwest dedicated entirely
survey more than 1,000 genes in
to treating brain tumors, it offers
64 glioblastoma patients with the
some of the nearly 17,000 Americans
hope of compiling the data to create
per year diagnosed with glioblastoma
a comprehensive “gene atlas” of a
(as well as patients with other types
brain tumor. The goal: to improve
of brain tumors) access to promisthe understanding of the differing new therapies through groundences in brain tumors, allowing
breaking clinical trials and research
doctors to research where abnormal
projects.
Rather than relying on existing brain- gene activity has taken place within dif“In the world of all cancers, brain tumor treatments, which have limited ferent patients’ tumors and to match
cancers account for just a few percent- success for glioblastoma patients, Swedish’s patients with the most-effective treatage points, so those patients tend not to brain-tumor center was designed to pioneer ments. The ultimate aim is to provide a free
be the focus of most community-based new, personalized treatments that hope- public resource to scientists so they can dehospitals,” says Greg Foltz, M.D., who fully will improve the possibility of achiev- velop more-effective drugs and treatments
in 2005 was recruited by Drs. Mayberg ing long-term remission and survival.
for patients for whom time is critical.
and Newell from the University of Iowa
“We try to bring the latest scientific
“The Ivy GAP will accelerate our disCollege of Medicine to form a new cen- advances directly to the patient; for covery of new brain cancer treatments
ter focusing on the treatment of brain instance, in offering newly diagnosed and allow scientists around the world to
tumors (originally called The Center patients the possibility of tailoring their focus on the genes that really matter in
for Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment). treatment based on the unique genetic glioblastoma,” Foltz says. “Prior research
“Typically, a neurosurgeon in a commu- makeup of their tumor. There are only a has led to the identification of thousands
nity hospital might operate on 300 cases few places in the country that are pio- of abnormal genes in glioblastoma. This
a year, 10 to 20 of which, at most, are neering this approach,” says Foltz. “This project will allow us to prioritize which
brain cancer. It’s difficult for doctors in blending of science with a patient-centered of those genes play important roles in tumor
these settings to put a lot of energy toward focus is very special to our Center. Sci- behavior. When completed, the Ivy GAP
addressing brain-cancer patients’ unique entific advances can take years to reach will give insight into how tumors differ
needs.”
patients. By speeding this process up, we from patient to patient.”
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I M P A C T W I N T E R 2 010
One patient who would have been
extremely interested in the Atlas Project
is the Center’s namesake, Ben Ivy, who
succumbed to glioblastoma on Thanksgiving Day 2005.
By all accounts, Ben Ivy was an exceptional man. The Everett High School
graduate excelled at both academics and
business, earning a B.S. in mechanical
engineering from Cornell and an M.B.A.
from Stanford before becoming a successful financial planner in Palo Alto,
California. In 2000, he wed Catherine,
also a financial planner. Ben’s first symptom of his illness was a numb thumb;
four months later, he lost his battle with
glioblastoma, leaving his wife with a
mission to help others diagnosed with
the same tragic disease. Catherine soon
founded The Ben and Catherine Ivy
Foundation — the largest private braintumor foundation in the United States —
and in 2008 contributed a $4.4-million
research grant that made the Ivy GAP
project possible.
“For the Ivy Foundation, patients are
at the core of all the research we support,”
says Catherine Ivy. “To be meaningful,
the ultimate goal of all research must be
to impact the clinical care of patients by
improving diagnostics and treatment. We
hope the Ivy Glioblastoma Atlas Project
will do just that. Information from the
project will be made publicly available to
researchers throughout the world so they
can use it freely in their own studies. This
project honors the memory of my late
husband and our dedication to doing everything we can to reduce the suffering of
patients diagnosed with a brain tumor.”
Reflecting on his first meeting with
Catherine Ivy in 2007, Dr. Foltz says,
“When I read the Ivy Foundation’s mission, I realized it was a perfect marriage
with our own. Ben Ivy is a great example
of why we need to do something for this
disease. He was a terrific, accomplished
man who lost his battle with glioblastoma very quickly and would have benefited from all the things we’re doing.”
He adds, “Everyone involved with
the Center is totally focused on how we
can positively impact the future for these
patients. Discoveries can come from the
most surprising places, and if we’re not
completely focused, we
might miss an opportunity. When I meet
a patient who potentially has a two- to
three-year chance of
survival, I tell that
patient, ‘We have two
to three years to find
solutions.’ ”
The Ivy Foundation
honors the memory
of Ben Ivy.
Thanks to generous support from the
philanthropic community, the Swedish
Neuroscience Institute has quickly become a nationally renowned center of
excellence, committed to working with
experts in the field to develop scientific
advances and provide hope for patients
with conditions previously believed to
be untreatable. For more information
about supporting the Swedish Neuroscience Institute, please contact Randy
Mann at [email protected] or
call (206) 386-6791.
Expanded Neuroscience
Intensive Care Unit
Due to the dramatic growth of the
Neuroscience Institute and the resulting
increase in patient volume, we are
seeking to expand the Neuroscience
ICU from 11 to 24 beds. Your generous gift will help ensure that critical
care is delivered to patients in a
state-of-the-art facility by a specially
trained medical staff.
MS Program expansion
As a national leader in the care of
patients with multiple sclerosis, the
Swedish MS Program is committed to
a comprehensive approach to care that
treats the “whole person.” The MS
Wellness Center brings together exercise, nutrition, education, coaching
and other services to support patients
in sustaining a high quality of life as
they live with their disease.
Ivy Center clinical trials
The Ivy Center provides brain-tumor patients
and their families access to a multi-disciplinary
team of skilled neurosurgeons, oncologists,
radiologists and specialized nursing staff.
To learn more, please visit us on the Web at
www.swedishfoundation.org/ivycenter.
The Ben and Catherine Ivy Center for
Advanced Brain Tumor Treatment is
seeking gift support to help launch innovative clinical trials that may lead to
improved outcomes for brain cancer
patients. Led by Dr. Greg Foltz, the Ivy
Center team is hoping to begin a trial
that will use a patients own immune
system to attack brain cancer cells.
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