HOPE
for members of the
Metastatic Cancer Community
for members of the
Metastatic Cancer Community
That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops - at all..."
- Emily Dickinson
- Faced with death, she helped others
- Lynda King, left, is thanked by Healing Garden Executive Director Margaret Koch,
- joined by King’s sister, Michele McCoole.
- THE CONCORD JOURNAL Posted Jul. 10, 2014 @ 2:01 am
by April M. Crehan
Eight years ago, Concord resident Lynda King was told she could not be cured. In just two short months, she went from finding a lump to a diagnosis of metastatic breast cancer with a prognosis of two years. But King fought back: chemotherapy, two mastectomies, rounds of radiation, a hysterectomy, hormone therapy and finally, last - September, the creation of Lynda’s Kause, a non-profit to fund metastatic cancer research
- and patient support. "She’s been a woman on a mission," said her sister, Michele
- McCoole, who watched her tired sister lovingly as she spoke of the recent decision
- to discontinue chemo for King.
"I had a plan," said King, who was heavily involved in decisions about her treatment- course at Emerson’s MGH Cancer Center. "I’m a fairly pragmatic person," King
- said of attending support groups that she says were akin to library research.
- "I would try to learn as much as I could. What can I learn from her and her chemo
- that I can use for my chemo?" she would ask herself.
"[King] in particular was very courageous and very much interested in not having- cancer control her, but rather her control the cancer," said her doctor,
- Jon DuBois. I don’t know if all cancer patients have that strong will and inner
- strength to do what she has done. For that, I am forever admiring her as a person,
- not just as a patient." King raved about DuBois and the nurses at Emerson.
- "You couldn’t convince me to go to Boston. There’s no reason to," she said,
- recalling how DuBois listened to her and considered her quality of life, and
- comparing it to the feeling of just "being a number" to some previous doctors.
King’s research into metastatic cancer treatment led her to a January 2014- study from Cornell University in which researchers attached nano-scale
- liposomes to leukocytes (white blood cells), turning them into constructed
- natural killer cells that attack cancer cells in the bloodstream. Michael King
- (no relation) heads the lab responsible for the research. His blood cell
- investigations led to the observation that cancer cells travel in the blood vessels
- similarly to white blood cells.
"We came with that kind of unique perspective from a little bit outside the- cancer field and that's when we had our big breakthrough," Michael King said.
- His team bound TRAIL (tumor necrosis factor-related aptosis-inducing ligand)
- to leukocytes and found that the treatment incredibly effective in circulating
- blood. "Anytime a cancer cell then gets into the bloodstream, all it has to do
- is bump into the white blood cells and it will die within a couple hours,"
- he explained. "It's quite remarkable. In our experiments we conducted so far,
- you go and look in the bloodstream a couple hours [later] and those [cancer cells]
- that you can find are completely obliterated." Michael King is hopeful that
- the therapy will reach clinical trials in a few years.
King’s lab is a recipient of $10,000 in funds raised by Lynda’s Kause, because- as Lynda King noted, his lab is one of the few focusing on a cure for metastatic
- (stage IV) cancer, rather than further understanding of how cancer functions or
- research on cures for earlier stage cancers. All told, Lynda’s Kause raised about
- $40,000 this spring, thanks to a "Promises to Keep" pink-tie gala and an
- anonymous donor who matched funds raised in June. Another chunk of those
- funds went to the Healing Garden, a Harvard organization that provides
- integrative therapies to those with cancer.Executive Director Margaret Koch
- said the funds will be helpful covering operational costs, since nearly all their
- budget comes from donations. "It’s the only cancer support facility of its kind
- in the state. Lynda made it very clear when she made her gift that she could
- not have really sustained herself without the support of the garden," Koch said
"There’s such a need for services and acknowledgement and advocacy for this stage of cancer," said Marilyn Brine Gilmour, who runs a metastatic cancer- support group Lynda King attended at the Healing Garden.
While Lynda King started out as the principal for the organization, McCoole plans - to take it over for her and continue the work. The sisters were planning to host a
- fall event and another gala in spring 2015, and launched a merchandise line
- (bathrobes, tote bags, sweatshirts, etc.) with a dragonfly emblem, the Lynda’s Kause
- symbol. The signature dragonfly design (created by a brother-in-law), incorporates
- a twist on the classic pink breast cancer awareness ribbon to create the body
- of the insect and delicate ice blue wings with light green edges, inspired by their
- grandmother’s eyes. The two sisters even got matching tattoos of the delicate
- design, a permanent reminder of the work they started together.
King said she knew she would miss out on graduations and weddings and- grandchildren, but that she had "sat at the table as long as she could."
- She was determined to be honest with her two children, now 14 and 16,
- throughout the process. "I’ve just had a wonderful life," said King. "I married my best
- friend. I have great kids, great family—a great sister, which goes without saying,"
- she said, adding with a chuckle that her one regret was never having her
- own bathroom.
McCoole remained by King’s side during the past several weeks, adding to the waves of visiting family and friends. "You’re born into a celebratory environment and you’re held immediately, and when you’re passing, it’s nice to have somebody hold your hand," said McCoole.
Lynda King passed away the weekend after speaking with the Journal, ending - her extended battle. King, proving herself as pragmatic as she claimed, planned her memorial services ahead of time. Friends and family will gather for a celebration
- of her life on Saturday at the Westford Regency, where she and her husband
- were engaged. In lieu of flowers, donations are being accepted for
- Lynda’s Kause Inc. via mail (211 Southfield Road, Concord, MA 01742) or online at
- www.lyndaskause.com
- Before her death, Lynda donated $10,000 raised by her nonprofit
- "Lynda's Kause" to the researcher below:
https://www.facebook.com/LyndasKause
Professor Michael King of Cornell University, Ithica, NY,
Professor of biomedical engineering and the study’s senior author. “About 90 percent of cancer deaths are related to metastases, but now we’ve found a way to dispatch an army of killer white blood cells that cause apoptosis – the cancer cell’s own death – obliterating them from the bloodstream. When surrounded by these guys, it becomes nearly impossible for the cancer cell to escape."
and this:
Dr. Matthew Ellis of the Siteman Cancer Center in St Louis, MO
Reporting in April 2011, Dr. Ellis and colleagues have sequenced the whole genomes of tumors from 50 breast cancer patients and compared them to the matched DNA of the same individuals' healthy cells. This study, conducted on behalf of the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group (ACOSOG), allows researchers to find mutations that only occurred in the cancer cells.
