Uschi's Thoughts

Dr. Czerniecki's state of the research report

2012-01-21T13:12:00.003-05:00

State of the Research Report
January 2012

Friends,
I would like to review the progress we have made over the past year and the tremendous increase in talent now participating on the project, as well as, the number of new members that will be joining this year. Obviously, we have a long way to go to eliminate breast cancer, but progress is beginning to be seen more rapidly this year. I will review our partnerships and the ongoing projects that are aimed at the elimination of breast cancer and other cancers. Below is a summary of activities, followed by a short description of each one.
 Publications:
o Journal of Immunotherapy, January 2012  A Novel Dendritic Cell-based Immunization Approach for the Induction of Durable Th1-polarized Anti-HER-2/neu Responses in Women With Early Breast Cancer Koski, Gary K.; Koldovsky, Ursula; Xu, Shuwen; Mick, Rosemarie; Sharma, Anupama; Fitzpatrick, Elizabeth; Weinstein, Susan; Nisenbaum, Harvey; Levine, Bruce L.; Fox, Kevin; Zhang, Paul; Czerniecki, Brian J. Journal of Immunotherapy. 35(1):54-65, January 2012. doi: 10.1097/CJI.0b013e318235f512
o Cancer, Journal of American Cancer Society will be –published in next few months
o Cancer Prevention Book, chapter about Vaccines in Breast Cancer Prevention –published later in 2012
o Two manuscripts with the George Coukos Group
 PLoS One. 2011;6(12):e28732. Epub 2011 Dec 14.Day-4 myeloid dendritic cells pulsed with whole tumor lysate are highly immunogenic and elicit potent anti-tumor responses.Chiang CL, Hagemann AR, Leskowitz R, Mick R, Garrabrant T, Czerniecki BJ, Kandalaft LE, Powell DJ Jr, Coukos G.
 Chiang CL, Maier DA, Kandalaft LE, Brennan AL, Lanitis E, Ye Q, Levine BL, Powell DJ Jr, Coukos G: Optimizing the parameters for clinical scale production of high IL-12 secreting dendritic cells pulsed with oxidized whole tumor cell lysate. J Translat Med 9(1):198, 2011.
o Finishing manuscript about freezing the vaccine
 DCIS Second Trial
 Other new HER Family Targets
 HER-3 Immune Response
2
 Vaccines for Early Invasive Breast Cancer
 Vaccines for Patients with Large HER-2pos Breast Cancer Following Chemotherapy and Herceptin
 Prevention Programs for BRCA Mutation Carriers
 Prime- Boost Vaccines
 Melanoma Vaccines
 Compassionate Use Vaccines for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer, Triple Negative, and HER-2pos Breast Cancer
Publications:
We have published two papers this year from our first DCIS trial, alluding to its tremendous success. One was published in the Journal of Immunotherapy in January 2012, and the second will be coming out in Cancer within the next couple of months. Shayna Showalter, our Breast Fellow, and I had put together a chapter about vaccines for a cancer prevention book to be published shortly. Together with the George Coukos Group, we have published two manuscripts demonstrating that the modifications of our dendritic cell vaccine can be used when pulsed with ovarian cancer cells for personalized vaccines. Elizabeth Fitzpatrick, who is our director of vaccine production, is completing a manuscript showing we can successfully freeze our activated dendritic cell vaccines and they retain their activity. This is very important because it means vaccines can be mass produced from patients anywhere and shipped. All of these are major accomplishments in the past year.
In Layman’s Terms: We have been busy scientifically and continue to receive the support of peer-review with our scientific writings
DCIS Second Trial:
We are continuing this trial with around 26 patients accrued and we have modified the trial for patients that are estrogen receptor positive to receive anti-estrogen therapy with vaccines. Our trial was highlighted on the CBS Evening News (11/16/2011). The patient highlighted was the first with our combination anti-estrogen vaccine component and had no disease left at surgery. Immune response rates in this trial are close to 90%, a remarkable outcome. We are continuing the trial through around 54 patients. With the data we have collected we are anticipating applying to the NIH for renewal to expand the anti-estrogen therapy with the vaccine group into Phase II and for those that are estrogen negative HER-2pos add trastuzumab (Herceptin) with vaccines. We anticipate these maneuvers will continue to help us get to complete
3
responses (meaning no disease left at surgery) for all these patients, eliminating long courses of anti-estrogen therapy (5 years), and reducing the need for radiation therapy and mastectomy rates. We are confident that the vaccines will help reduce recurrence rates and new breast cancers. Elizabeth Fitzpatrick and Shuwen Xu, MD continue to provide the engine for these studies.
In Layman’s Terms: This trial is still accumulating patients rapidly and is heading toward our goal of 50 patients. We are combining vaccines with a brief course of Tamoxifen or Letrozole (aromatase inhibitors) for patients with estrogen positive HER-2 positive DCIS: An exciting combination to block two pathways and increase the number of complete responses.
Other new HER Family Targets:
Holly Graves, a Penn surgery resident, has been performing pathology staining in the lab in patients with DCIS with HER-3, HER-4, HER-1 and survivin. She has made the observation that survivin expression in DCIS increases with grade, and although not associated with invasion, is a good immunologic target independent of HER-Family expression. She is about to submit a paper with Dr. Paul Zhang, in Pathology, describing the role of survivin in DCIS. It is known that this molecule may play a role in recurrence. Holly is also making critical findings with HER-3 and is showing it is expressed in a large number of DCIS lesions. This is great news as it confirms our suspicion that other HER family members are involved in early breast cancer and invasive breast cancer, and is responsible for resistance to some of the breast cancer recurrences following Herceptin. Holly has shown HER-3 expression remains in some of our HER-2 vaccine patients on residual DCIS and thus is prime for targeting. Holly is looking at the association between HER-3 expression and the development of invasive breast cancer in DCIS and it appears to be highly associated like HER-2! Anti-HER-3 vaccines and antibodies would be primed to prevent breast cancer invasion and not only in HER-2 cancers. Data is accumulating that many patients’ breast cancers are HER-3 positive and would be a target for personalized therapy. Herceptin treated patients often fail in the brain (meaning the treatment fails and the cancer moves into the brain) and HER-3 expression is associated with metastatic brain tumors. Others have found HER-3 expression in melanoma, lung cancer, brain cancer, and colon cancer, suggesting a critical target for attack. HER-1 is expressed on a minority of breast cancers, generally triple negative, but is another target of the family. We are trying to convince our pathologists to assess these molecules in all of our breast cancer patients for profiling and therapy decisions. Holly is also looking at other biomarkers in DCIS and including some of these biomarkers in melanoma.
4
In Layman’s Terms: We are identifying the role of HER-2’s sister protein in early breast cancer so that we can effectively target these and develop other vaccines to help with resistance and recurrence to anti-estrogen and Herceptin therapy. This is important in preventing recurrence.
HER-3 Immune Response:
Sara Matthews, a Penn surgery resident, joined the lab in July to identify peptides from HER-3, survivin, and HER-1 that can be developed and used for our next generation of vaccines. She has started with HER-3 and made amazing progress. She has analyzed the protein and designed peptides for CD8 T cells. She has already identified two of these peptides to which patients can react! This is the first demonstration of peptides from HER-3 that can be used for targeting HER-3. She is now testing tumor cells to find HER-3 expression so as to use these CD8 T cells to determine whether they can recognize and kill HER-3 expressing cancers. She has done the same with CD4 peptides and will be testing those shortly. She has really settled in well and will test normal donors for HER-3 activation as well. She will continue with HER-1 and survivin. This is exciting because we are going to be able to rapidly add these peptide targets to vaccines for patients with breast cancers and melanoma. Other tumors such as ovarian cancer, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lung cancer are also targets for these HER-3 vaccines.
In Layman’s Terms: We are already beginning to develop the peptides that can be used to target HER-3, attacking a critical path in cancer development in estrogen positive, HER-2 positive and triple negative breast cancer. This work is the prelude to bringing this into the clinic very shortly.
Vaccines for Early Invasive Breast Cancer:
Inspired by one of our vaccine patients, we are committed to use our HER-2 dendritic cell vaccine in combination with Herceptin (3 doses) for patients with early HER-2pos breast cancer. This would be the first trial for these patients without the use of chemotherapy. PURE IMMUNOTHERAPY! Dr Carol Tweed, a medical oncologist, is supporting and developing this protocol. We are applying for funding for this trial. All patients will have T1a T1b HER-2pos (≤1 cm) breast cancer. This may be the beginning of the end for chemotherapy.
5
Vaccines for Patients with Large HER-2pos Breast Cancer Following Chemotherapy and Herceptin:
We are developing a breast cancer vaccine with HER-2 and HER-3 to give patients after chemotherapy and Herceptin to help prevent recurrence. Dr. Angela DeMichele, in Medical Oncology, is helping to develop clinical trials that can be used for these patients. The HER-3 vaccine we are developing will be critical in this trial. Rachel Yang, a medical student, is looking at the immune responses that develop in these patients from chemotherapy and Herceptin. This study will be open in February and we will be recruiting patients to give us blood to see whether the development of a cellular immune response is associated with preventing recurrence. Anyone in this category we need your blood help us out.
We are hopeful that we will be able to get the Abramson Cancer Center to support a Translational Center of Excellence for Secondary Prevention of Breast Cancer. A lot of breast cancer patients fear the recurrences that can develop even many years after eliminating the primary disease. I suggest you support this cause by letting the Abramson Cancer Center Director Chi Van Dang and Hospital Administration Ralph Mueller know that you support and demand such a novel program.
In Layman’s Terms: A late recurrence is something all breast cancer patients fear. We are developing the tools to predict immune response in patients treated with Herceptin as to who will and will not recur, and use our vaccines for those that are likely to recur to prevent a late recurrence. We want to develop a center for breast cancer patients devoted to determining and reducing their risk of recurrence without having to wait 10 or 15 years until recurrence happens! This would be the first center of its kind in cancer care. I suggest you support this cause by letting the Abramson Cancer Center Director Chi Van Dang and Hospital Administration Ralph Muller know that you support and demand such a novel program.
Prevention Programs for BRCA Mutation Carriers:
Rachel Yang, a medical student, is spending a year with us evaluating the DCIS and Breast Cancer patients with HER-family members that are mutation carriers as a first step to assessing whether our HER family dendritic cell vaccines can be utilized for these patients that often have a 70% lifetime risk of breast cancer. If these patients have HER-1, HER-2 or HER-3 expression on their tumors then it would make sense that this would be the ideal group in which to test a breast cancer prevention vaccine. Dr. Susan Domcheck, the Director of the High Risk Screening Genetic Clinic at Rowan Breast Center, is assisting with this project.
6
In Layman’s Terms: We are identifying targets in patients that have inherited the breast cancer genes to offer them vaccines for prevention as alternative to bilateral mastectomies. That’s a good thing: who at 20 or 30 should face bilateral mastectomies?
Prime-Boost Vaccines:
Dr. Gary Koski, our colleague at Kent State, is busy at work identifying the peptides that Herceptin and pertuzumab recognize so that we can add these peptides to our current vaccines so that patients can make their own Herceptin and pertuzumab. We will also identify peptides that can be used to generate antibodies against HER-3 and HER-1. This is exciting and will be used with our early breast cancer vaccine trials and our late adjuvant HER-2, HER-3 Vaccines. This data is moving along very nicely. This is our next big addition to these vaccines.
In Layman’s Terms: We can teach patients’ own immune systems to make their own Herceptin and pertuzumab for lifelong surveillance against recurrence.
Melanoma Vaccines:
Jessica Cintolo, a Penn Surgery Resident who started in July, is working in a mouse model and in human melanoma to assess whether vaccines can be developed against the melanoma protein BRAF and HER-3. She has a model of melanoma development in the mouse that is caused by BRAF. Working with our colleagues at Wistar Institute, she is studying anti-BRAF vaccines and combinations of BRAF kinase medications and vaccines in melanoma therapy. Jessica, with Holly Graves, is assessing HER-3 expression in patients receiving BRAF kinase drugs to determine whether HER-3 vaccines combined with BRAF will be useful to eliminate metastatic melanoma. Jessica has the mouse models approved and is purchasing mice for breeding while assessing the HER-3 expression in patients with metastatic melanoma.
In Layman’s Terms: Our vaccine program can be used to combat melanoma that has spread and try to reduce deaths in this deadly disease. We will combine it with the new melanoma targeted therapy to eliminate remaining cells that often become resistant to drug therapy
Compassionate Use Vaccines for Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer, Triple Negative, and HER-2pos Breast Cancer:
We have lost some good friends to pancreatic cancer and metastatic breast cancer and therefore are bringing in some of our new peptides against HER-1, survivin, and Mesothelin
7
against these metastatic cancers. Unfortunately, we have only CD8 peptides for these antigens thus far, so we will use our HER-2 backbone. However this means all the patients being treated have to be HLA A2 haplotype to be able to derive any benefit. This type of study is impossible to fund because of the nature of the vaccine and the stage of patients, but we are happy that Pennies in Action will supply money so that these patients can receive the vaccine. The trial is with the FDA and the IRB. Currently we anticipate being able to provide vaccines for patients by late February or early March. Each of these treatments cost about $5,000-$10,000 per patient.
In Layman’s Terms: We can offer some hope to those that have metastatic breast cancer (triple negative or HER-2 positive) or those with metastatic pancreatic cancer to try to get their immune response rolling after they have finished chemotherapies. Pennies in Action is supporting this endeavor completely as no scientific funding agency would take on a task like this. We will get Phase I data as a result with new targets.
Conclusion
As can be seen, there is a lot of activity ongoing in the group. We have three others joining the lab this spring and summer. As a result of the Henle Foundation support, we have been able to provide a new two year research fellowship experience. This year, starting later in the spring, Eric Berk will join the lab from the University of Pittsburgh. Eric will complete his PhD in March in dendritic cell biology with Dr. Pawel Kallinski. He will study T cell dendritic cell interactions. Kathryn Lee, a Penn Surgery resident, will join us in July and Megan Fracol, a medical student at Penn, will join us in the summer for eight weeks and study whether our T cells and antibodies from vaccinated patients can prevent in 3D models Breast Cancer Invasion. Megan has learned Penn selected her project above all other students for national competition. We are also pretty sure that Dr. Robert Roses will be returning from MD Anderson to the faculty at Penn and will take a leading role in our Vaccine Projects as well. Robert was a major contributor when he was a resident. We take this opportunity to thank all of our donors and sponsors for both their inspirational and financial support. We hope to bring this annual report to our friends yearly so they can see where we are going. We are indebted to Pennies in Action for the purchase of new incubators, a refrigerator and a microscope for performing our pathology work. Our numbers of young scientists are growing and we are continuing to gain traction. We expect to continue the growth and accomplishments of this group as we report in 2013.
A healthy and Blessed New Year to all our friends,
Brian J Czerniecki, MD, PhD

CBS evening news about the vaccine

2011-11-17T22:29:00.000-05:00

Experimental breast cancer vaccine shows promise - CBS News Video

www.cbsnews.com

Danny and the Juniors for Pennies in Action

2011-10-21T23:24:00.001-04:00

Please watch this video that Danny and the Juniors made in support of
Pennies in Action.....
http://youtu.be/sNKBkHHKogs

The Answer to Cancer...

2011-10-01T22:59:00.000-04:00

The Answer to Cancer...

In This Issue

Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week

"I urge all of you to enjoy life and the precious moments you have. To be enthusiastic everyday and as Ralph Waldo Emerson said "Nothing great can be accomplished without enthusiasm".

So keep the dream alive, in spite of whatever problems you have. The ability to work hard will allow your dreams to come true, to become a reality."

-Jim Valvano, March 4, 1993 acceptance speech for the inaugural Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award at the first annual Espy Awards

CANCER...

One in four people in the United States is affected by some form of this disease...there's a good chance that as you read this, you are one of them or you know someone who's been touched by cancer. Our goal is not to dwell on the statistics of a losing battle...but to champion a cause for hope

CURE !

The good news is that researchers like Brian Czerniecki, MD, PhD at the Hospital of the University of Penn (HUP) are dedicated to finding the key that unlocks the mystery of curing this disease. As a Rhoads Harrington Professor of Surgical Oncology and Co-Director of the Rena Rowan Breast Center, Dr. Czerniecki has made a commitment to challenge the "standard of care" by researching the molecular behavior of cancer and incredibly, helping patients to use their own body for the cure.

Picture: From left to right: Dr. Brian Czerniecki, Uschi Keszler (Founder of Pennies in Action) and Ursula Koldovsky who lost her battle with pancreatic cancer last year. She was long-time associate of Dr. Czerniecki and a driving force in his Dendritic Cell research, growing the individual vaccines used for the participants in the HER-2/neu clinical trial.

Dr. Czerniecki has already developed an immunotherapy vaccine and successfully treated 50 women diagnosed with early stage breast cancer. He has developed a vaccine that teaches your body's own immune system to defend against cancer. His goal is to apply this protocol to multiple types of cancer. With your support, he can continue his assault, and ultimately attain the cure.

Having received grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) Dr. Czerniecki is in the process of completing the second phase of a trial for HER2+ breast cancer. He needs to supplement the acquired grants with an additional $200,000 to take the next step in conquering cancer.

CALL-TO-ACTION

Dr. Czerniecki has applied proven science as evidenced by the astonishing results that he has achieved, but he needs funding. On behalf of all those people that are affected by cancer, please head this call to action. Click on the following link to the 501(c ) (3 ) non- profit foundation Pennies in Action

www.penniesinaction.org

Please take a few minutes to view the video in which Dr. Czerniecki explains his research and get a sense of how close he really is....THEN, please click on the donate tab in the left menu to make a difference.

Personal Note from Helena Nyman: Pennies in Action is an Organization, all based on volunteer work - no paid employees! - that currently raises funds to set an end to the senseless death due to cancer.

Have an EXTRAordinary weekend!

This is scary .........

2011-07-08T22:10:00.001-04:00

This is a letter I received today from one of the vaccine recipients.She is allowing me to post it here, because it is important info.....

___________________________________

Hi Uschi,

There is not a day that goes by that I don't realize how fortunate and blessed I have been to have Dr. Czerniecki as a surgeon but also to have qualified for the vaccine.

Wednesday I ran into a friend of mine at the food store whom I have not seen for awhile.

She relayed to me that she was diagnosed with breast cancer in March. I asked her what was driving her cancer. She had no idea - not one of her doctors told her what caused the cancer! She was not aware that different elements could cause the cancer. We must have talked for nearly an hour. I gave her one of the brochures.

She had her surgery done at Princeton Medical Center.

Now get this - they told her after she had CAT scans, PET scans etc that there was what looked like a possible tumor on her liver but they think it is not cancer. How can they make a statement like this without doing a biopsy?

She also has not had any GYN yearly's since her last child was born [her one daughter used to babysit for me and is a nurse! This daughter worked for the Princeton medical center for 25 years and now works at Bristol-Myers Squibb.] We are talking intelligent people here but they are really in the dark about comprehensive care.

This same medical center told another friend of mine who had a suspicious lump, that 3 radiologists could not agree upon, to come back in another three months and then get reassessed!

What is the harm in seeking a second opinion? If I was told I had a tumor on my liver, I would not leave until it was biopsied and an evaluation given. "think" is not a diagnosis!

Yearly exams are so basic - a very small price to pay if it saves your life.

In the same conversation I was told that my daughter, Holly's ex-mother-in-law, who does not get mammographies, rolled over in bed and felt a mass. Stewed around about it for a couple of weeks until her son forced her to admit what was wrong, called his sister to get her to a doctor. Her lymph was also invaded with cancer. [Diagnosed stage 3]. We are talking a woman who was a college professor, former mayor of my old township and her husband was president of New Jersey Manufacturers Insurance Company for years and even started a bank there, is resposible for starting New Jersey RE-Insurance so people at the Jersey Shore can get flood insurance etc.

All I can do is shake my head and count my blessings!

Karen

Karen H. Berner

Breast Cancer Vaccine Recipient

Support Cancer Vaccine Research

www.penniesinaction.org

this is Blake Chapman who wrote the letter...

2011-07-03T14:42:00.005-04:00

I applaud the initiative of this young man.....

2011-07-03T14:34:00.004-04:00

One of the hockey players of TEAM MASS 96 took the initiative to help

Pennies in Action by writing a letter to the contacts in his families address book.

Thru his initiative we received so far $ 1710

Some of his team mates followed suit and we got another $ 575

On top of that the team raised another $ 564.05 which brings their total this year to $ 2834.05

I have always said it is our youth that will make sure we succeed. !!!!!!!!

It is time that we start listening more to their voices.

Thanks guys you are amazing……

--------------------------------------------

This is the original letter:

Dear Friends and Family,

This summer I am very fortunate to be able to combine my passion, hockey with my community service project, Pennies In Action.

German Olympic Skater and Olympic Coach Uschi Keszler founded PIA. Uschi is a breast and uterine cancer survivor.

As an elite athlete, Uschi was aware of the power and resiliency of the human body. So when she decided to help find a way to beat cancer, she knew that she could not support something that would destroy the body in order to heal it. Finding out that her surgeon Dr. Brian Czernieck was already in clinical trials of a vaccine that utilizes the patient’s own immune system to fight breast cancer. She knew she had found her first project. This is the only trial of its kind in the world that has shown such promise towards a CURE for cancer.

My hockey team, Mass One Elite will be traveling to Pennsylvania on June 29 - July 3, to play in the Philly AAA International.

There we will present Uschi Keszler and Dr. Czerniecki with the money my teammates and I have risen.

On Aug 7th, we hope to travel to Prague, Czech Republic to play in the Czech Challenge.

I'm very fortunate to be a part of this team and it's commitment in the fight against cancer.

My goal is $2,000.00. I would be very grateful for any contribution you can make.

Please go to

http://www.penniesinaction.org/

Click on donate, at Dr. Czerniecki's research section. After you have made a donation,

Your confirmation page will appear. Please click on "My gift is in honor of" and input

"BLAKE CHAPMAN/TEAM MASS '96".

Have a great summer and see you at the rink!

WE ALL MUST HAVE THIS VACCINE .......

2011-06-19T12:19:00.001-04:00

Recently Melissa and I went for her check up after all her treatment for breast cancer .

she had had Chemo, mastectomy with reconstruction ,6 weeks of radiation and 1 year of Herceptin....

After a clear mammogram on her other breast we were elated.

Now on the mastectomy side there is no mammogram ultrasound or MRI because it would not detect properly, because of all the scar tissue etc.

So the only thing they can do is check by exam and ask how you feel.

Needless to say we were stunned... When we were diagnosed the first time we had no symptoms, so by the time we will have symptoms the second time it will be much further advanced.

This vaccine will give us a natural surveillance system that could detect and eliminate problems long before we or the medical community would or could know ....

Right now it is available for HER 2/neu But they are working on it for the other cancers.

Please watch the video where the doctors are talking about this research.

WE NEED THE FUNDING so please help, every penny counts...

There are 11 000 000 cancer survivors in the US alone. It is imperative for our survival that we get this natural surveillance system .

No one is save !!!!!!

No one in my family ever had cancer and I was hit 2X........

watch these 2 videos:
"Discover A cure within" (the science version)

http://youtu.be/V9wyZmHwZcQ

" A cure within"

http://youtu.be/J5EA2l2C5Us

www.penniesinaction.org

PLEASE JOIN OUR CRUSADE 1111111

A Cure within

2011-05-09T02:34:00.002-04:00

We had a great time at our event "Showers of Hope"
It was a huge success. We unveiled this new video that night and everybody loved it...
Watch it, enjoy it and please share it with all your friends.

Crusading together for the end of Cancer

Uschi

http://youtu.be/J5EA2l2C5Us

Press release for May 6th "Showers of Hope"

2011-04-22T22:57:00.003-04:00

printable ms word version attached

PRESS ADVISORY

Contact:

Uschi Keszler (610) 909-0428

ukeszler@penniesinaction.org

For Immediate Release
Friday April 22, 2011

Musical History Makers Join Cancer Research
History Makers To Find Cure

Pennies In Action’s Fete To Benefit Cancer Immunology Research Includes As VIP Guests Members of Danny and the Juniors, The Duprees, The Dovells, The Rip Chords, Uschi Keszler, Lou Tilley, Helena Nyman, Dr. Jeffrey Drebin and Dr. Brian J. Czerniecki

WHAT/WHO: Theresa and Paul Murtagh will host 'Showers of Hope' at their home in Media, PA to raise awareness and funds for cancer vaccine research. Cocktails and a dinner buffet will be served and there will also be a live auction. VIP guests will include Members of Danny and the Juniors recording artists of “At The Hop” and “Rock‘ N’ Roll Is Here To Stay”, The Duprees recording artists of "You Belong to Me" and "My Own True Love", The Dovells recording artists of "Bristol Stomp" and "You Can't Sit Down", The Rip Chords recording artists of "Hey Little Cobra", champion ice skater and coach Uschi Keszler, success coach/motivational speaker Helena Nyman, Dr. Jeffrey A. Drebin, M.D., Ph.D. Chair of the Department of Surgery at Penn Medicine and others. Emcee for the evening will be sports broadcaster Lou Tilley. The event will include an update on clinical trial results for breast cancer vaccine research featuring Brian J. Czerniecki, M.D., Ph.D., Co-Director of the Rena Rowan Breast Center, Surgical Director of the Immunotherapy Program, Abramson Cancer Center, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

WHERE /WHEN: The Home Of Theresa and Paul Murtagh 178 Dam View Road, Media, PA Friday, May 6, 2011 at

6 PM

ADMISSION/ DONATION: $75.00 ($50 tax deductible). For tickets go to the Pennies In Action Website,

call (610) 909-0428 or Email ukeszler@penniesinaction.org.

Pennies in Action® was founded in 2007 by Uschi Keszler - Olympic athlete, Olympic coach, and double cancer survivor. Having survived and seen the conquering of tuberculosis in her youth, and now as a survivor of both breast and uterine cancer, Uschi is determined to see cancer beaten in her lifetime too. Pennies in Action’s current project is to raise funds to benefit the breast cancer vaccine research of Dr. Brian Czerniecki of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. His research is cutting edge, and they believe strongly in his vision. Their starting goal is to raise $1,000,000 to help fund the second clinical trial of the vaccine.

Dr. Czerniecki is a highly recognized and respected oncological surgeon and researcher, who specializes in the least invasive means to treat cancer. He has had positive results in the first trial of his vaccine, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Our goal is to make certain he has the funds he needs for the next steps in his research.

For more info see http://www.penniesinaction.org/ Call (610) 909-0428 or email ukeszler@penniesinaction.org

On becoming a Champion ...

2011-04-12T22:09:00.004-04:00

1. You have to be considered number 1 in the sport you are competing in. That
makes you a winner.
2. To become a winner you have to outdo all the others in your race.
3. That in itself does not create a Champion…
4. A champion gets defined on how he or she handles victory and defeat.
5. We have a great admiration for Champions in sports. This admiration even
makes some of them into super stars…
6. But what creates a champion?
7. It is easy to win but very difficult to lose.
8. A champion gets energized by defeat; he brushes himself of and cannot wait
to get back into the arena, while the average person gets demoralized.
9. In order to become a champion you must go through many peaks and valleys.
Each time you have to come back stronger and more determined.
10. You must be willing to do WIT ( whatever it takes)
11. You must be passionate about your goal, determined, relentless, and above
all have stick-to-it-ness.
12. A Champion gets up even if he cannot…

Now this is true in sports but it also translates into everyday life.
I have always said that sport provides a concrete way to visualize and learn abstract life lessons.
There are many lessons that I learned in sports that ended up invaluable in my own life. Here is one of them…
When I was 13 years old my Dad took me to the track. I was a figure skater but for cross training we went to the track (high jumping, running, running long-jump and shot putting).
He had figured out my average results in all these events and I had to reach that level every time I went to train.
One day we went to the track at 3pm and I started with high jumping (which was my special event)
After warm up I attempted my average competitive result. I tried and tried and each time the bar fell. Hours passed. People gathered around and felt really sorry for me because my (in their mind) cruel Dad did not let me give up. I went through every possible emotion. (I cried, felt sorry for myself, got angry, etc., but my Dad did not give up)
In the meantime it was 9 pm. I remember this moment as if it was yesterday.
I tried the next attempt, put everything I got into it, and the next thing I knew I was laying on my back in the high jump pit and the bar was still up …….
My Dad simply said “Uschi let’s go home. When you think you can’t there is a lot left inside of you….!”
This was the greatest lesson I ever learned. I have carried it through my whole life. You only need to learn that once and then you will know how to push the reserve button inside of you. Trust me it is a trial that is very, very tough but once you learn it, the results are incredible.
I use this lesson in my teaching and coaching. I have given many students a task they must stay and complete without quitting. The ones that had the guts and endurance and trust in me to learn this great lesson went on to great things, including World titles.
That is what I mean by stick-to-it-ness.
I thank my Dad every day of my life for having had the patience and love to teach me many life lessons….
To me sports and life are interchangeable. I live on blades and skate thru life.
It is important in life that you continue with what you do to reach a level of excellence. The principles apply in every area of life.
For instance, you have to learn something seven times over before you reach your first level of skill.
This shows how much stick-to-it-ness it takes to become highly skilled. Most of us are happy with the fact that we can do something. That is not enough if you even want to consider becoming a champion at anything.
Anybody that has ever travelled the path of the pure joy in the pursuit of excellence (the Olympic Ideal) has never regretted it and would do it again, even though it is tough…
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
God says you have W.I.T. (Whatever It Takes) in Philippians 4:13
When He tells , we can do all things through Christ who gives us strength.
You have what it takes!
What will you do in your lifetime to become a Champion?

Huge success for a trial patient......

2011-02-04T23:42:00.002-05:00

This is the success story of a patient that finished the breast cancer vaccine trial of Dr. Czerniecki at the University of Penn.
She had a huge area of disease but it went down 99.3 % on account of using her own immune system with 6 shots over 8 week period.
Because of this she did not need a mastectomy ………!!!!!!! Plus her immune response is giving her further protection…
For more info on the trial go to
www.penniesinaction.org

In my Opinion.... Melissa Nicholas (cancer patient)

2011-01-29T10:22:00.001-05:00

It is my belief that the threat of cancer is being removed, that the end is near where the devil won't be able to use cancer against the human race in the same gravity and expanse he spews it out today. God is revealing great truths to doctors about the immune system. He is giving them amazing breakthroughs on working with this God ordained and designed system to recognize cancer as the invader that it is. Please pray for this research to make it into the hands that will take it to the masses of God's adored creation. Specifically pray for the research going on with Dr. Czerniecki at the University of Pennsylvania. God has planted me in the midst of this and it is my belief that this research which started out at the breast is going to be the answer for cancer at large. It is only fitting that the part of the body which sustains life will birth the answer to this hideous disease. As I currently go through radiation treatments at the University of Pennsylvania I loose my composure every time I see a child in the waiting area. Little 7 year old Nicholas rang the bell a week ago on his last treatment with no hair and so excited to be done! I am hoping and praying all would be well with his medical reports. Another little girl they call "Princess" relegated to a wheel chair, again no hair, and relatively listless. I had to walk down the hall because I couldn't keep it together in her presence. Mike is missing half of his ear because the cancer went to his salivary gland. He goes twice a day with chemotherapy in the middle of the week. This madness has to stop! Dr. Czerneicki's dendritic cell immunotherapy breakthroughs are going to change the way people like Nicholas, "Princess", and Mike get treated. It's God's grace in action! Almost 40 women have been successfully treated already, I hope to be one of them in the fall. Please share www.penniesinaction.org and pray this through for God to continue to reveal His goodness through this research, for the research to have only positive results, and for a divine hedge of protection over this research project opening doors no man can shut! In Jesus Name, Amen.

p.s. For those science majors in our homes here is the explanation of this immunotherapy process from the doc:

> If T lymphocytes are the fighting generals of the immune system, dendritic cells (DC) act as the reconnaissance scouts. DCs like to take up station at sites of anatomical barriers, i.e. where the "inside" meets the "outside", (the skin, mucous membranes, alimentary canal). Here they wait for two things, signs of infection and/or inflammatory tissue damage. The surface of DCs are studded with specialized receptors, which act as sensors for infection or inflammation. When they contact such signals, a specialized maturation/activation/migration program is initiated. DCs collect a "snapshot" of the proteins present in the environment of the activation signals (such as protiens from an infectious agent), gain acces to draining lymphatic vessels, and travel to the lymph nodes. The lymph nodes are populated by many T lymphocytes. The DCs seek out T cells and "present" the proteins acquired at the peripheral sites. The T cells then become activated by the DCs and then go out on a "search and destroy" mission to eliminate anything that resembles the proteins presented by the DC (such as a bacterium infecting the body). Now here are the reasons why we think our approach is giving us superior results. Please note in many cases, we were not the first to try some of these things (though in certain instances we were), but mostly it is the fact that we assembled a number of innovatons into an integrated strategy.
>
> 1) Traditional vaccines used (like a standard tetanus shot) rely on the material provided by the immunization to be picked up by DCs for presentation to T cells. However, we believe that the sort of immune response needed to eliminate tumors is so intense, and of a particular type that the best way to achieve it is to actually culture large numbers of the DCs outside the body and then administer the patients own antibodies already "loaded" with this immunotherapy vaccine proteins.
>
> 2) We activate the DCs in a special way that mimicks infection. We use a special preparation of a compound that makes up the cell wall of bactieria called lipopolysaccharide (LPS). One of the sensors on the surface of DCs specifically recognizes LPS leading to their activation. We think that by "fooling" the DCs into believing they are under attack by a microbe, the response they generate will be particularly strong. We are the first to use LPS to activated DCs in a clinical trial. We believe that other methods to activate the DCs do not allow for maximal function.
>
> 3) We think that soluble products produced by the DCs supply special signals to T cells that allow them to be particularly effective against cancer. Brian showed that one of these soluble products, called Interleukin-12 (IL-12) endowed the T cells with the capacity to recognize and kill tumors in the test tube. T cells that were sensitized by DCs incapable of producing IL-12 could not recognize or kill tumor cells. Most other investigators trying to produce anti-cancer vaccines under-appreciate the need for IL-12. By combining LPS with another cytokine called interferon gamma (IFN-g), the DCs can produce large quantities of IL-12. Most other methods of producing DCs for vaccination will not induce them to produce IL-12.
>
> 4) We inject the DC vaccines directly into the lymph nodes. Most others inject the DCs at distal locations with the expectation that the DCs will migrate to the nodes on their own. In fact, only a very small proportion of cultured DCs actually make thier way to lymph nodes after injection. So people who do not inject directly into the nodes are cheating themselves of the best possible immune response.
>
> 5) We harvest the vaccine DCs at a time point where they are making maximal amounts of IL-12. The DCs follow a very precise program after activation and only make IL-12 for a very short window of time. Supplying the DCs too early or too late will squander the benefit of IL-12. Most other investigators give no thought to the kinetics of cytokine production and only supply DCs long after they stop making such products.
>
> 6) We specifically target cancer proteins that are associated with the tumor's ability to cause disease. HER-2/neu is a poor prognostic indicator. HER-2/neu over-producing tumors are more likely to recur after surgical resection, are more likely to be invasive and metastatic, and can be resistant to some front-line chemotherapy agents. We target such proteins so that if we are lucky, all of the tumor is killed. If we are slightly less than lucky, we can cull the tumor of the most dangerous cells leaving behind a residuum of disease that is less aggressive, more indolent, and more amenable to other therapies.
>
> 7) We target early disease. Most vaccines of the past have targeted later stage disease. This is because experimental therapies are usually supplied only when the conventional therapies have failed (hence the patient is further along in course of disease). This causes a number of problems. Late stage patients are sicker, often have little time to live, have large volumes of tumor needing to be destroyed, pre-treatment with radiation and chemo can negatively impact the bone marrow (and hence immune system), and advanced tumor are known to play tricks to turn off the immune response. For all of these reasons, we want to make vaccine therapy the first line of defense rather than the last line of defense. We hope to get to a point where vaccine therapy is used first, followed by surgery, and then, if necessary, radiation and or chemo (concentrating on techniques that do the least damage to immunity). It is also important to note that with advances in screening, we are likely in the future to catch tumors earlier and earlier. So our new therapies should be targeted here rather than late-stage disease. This does not mean that vaccines could not have benefit in later disease. But we should optimize them on early disease first before trying them out on later disease.
>
> 8) There are two types of T cells, so called "helper" T cells (Th) and the "Cytoxic" T cells (CTL). For a variety of historic reasons an excessive emphasis has been placed on CTL. Many immunotherapy vaccine attempts have focused exclusively on CTL, ignoring Th. We have formulated an approach that specifically recruits Th as well as CTL. We think this greatly enhances immunotherapy vaccine efficacy.
>

"Do not let anyone think less of you because you are young, be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity" 1 Tim 4:12 NLT

Building Our House
"On the Rock, One Brick at a Time"
www.buildingourhouse.com
Matthew 7:24-25

Facilitators for

DIVINE DEBUTANTES a/k/a "CLUB D"

"Join the Revolution...One Young Lady at a Time"

www.divinedebutantes.com

tel 561-432-5555

text 561-756-0707
fax 561-432-1733

The genius idea behind the vaccine...

2011-01-24T09:40:00.000-05:00

“ Dr. Brian Czerniecki is a brilliant surgeon and brilliant scientist “ so says
Gary K. Koski PhD
“ Dr. Brian Czerniecki is a brilliant scientist with great imagination” so said
Ursula Koldovsky PhD
He had worked on Melanoma first, but he said that it was such a difficult cancer .
He looked for a cancer that is detectable very early… DCIS when it is still contained in the milk duct.
When he started his first trial there were not allowed to be any invasions at all. That way he could study the reaction of cancer cells to the vaccine without any other influence. When you go after cancer it chamophlages itself and looks for exit ways. In the controlled environment of the milk duct he could study that.
He learned enough that he expanded to micro invasions , soon to small invasions and then to all.
He learned so much so , that he is now also using his principals in Melanoma research…The trial will be opening soon.
All this is happening so fast. It is so exciting to watch ….
Now our main objective at Pennies in Action is Fund Raising. They need much more lab space to handle the influx of patients that will come now where the parameters of the trials are widening.
For more info go to
www.penniesinaction.org

AWARENESS + targeted ACTION = SUCCESS

2010-12-12T11:22:00.007-05:00

pictured : Ursula Koldovski PhD who died of pancreatic cancer Oct.18th
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxizhpHxTm8&feature=player_embedded

_________________________________________-

It is so frustrating to see all these people still dying from cancer.
Pennies in Action is this week 3 years old. During this time cancer deaths went globally from the number 4 spot to the number 1 spot …..
Being in Elite sports all my life, being fixed on a goal is a way of life for me.
Watching what is done to remove cancer as threat seems to me more going about it in a recreational way.
There is no combined effort as we had to get to the moon. Money gets spread out but there does not seem to be a concentrated effort to reach the goal. Nothing of great value seems to funded to the end. As a patient you wonder if the goal ever was to find the cure or just to prolong life since cancer is big business…
In my heart I believe that Dr. Czerniecki and his group are in it for the right reason, they want the cure.!!!! NIH has refunded his research. He needs 75% success rate in his patients of the trial to fulfill the requirements of the FDA. The trial needs 60 patients so he has to have success with 45 . They fund 40 so from the get go this would fail unless we raise extra funds…..
From what I have seen this research is the real hope we have to prevent and treat cancer and even prevent recurrence in a humane way without all the horrible side effects.
For more info go to www.penniesinaction.org
Please help and join the crusade……

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-z3RVwReEg&feature=email

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azud_WBqDzw&feature=player_embedded

A scientists explanation of the breast cancer vaccine research

2010-12-01T18:09:00.002-05:00

Dear Uschi,

Unfortunately, there is not really a simple way to explain what we do in a very concise way that is both accurate and can be easily understood by non-scientists. However, I shall do my best.

If T lymphocytes are the fighting generals of the immune system, dendritic cells act as the reconnaissance scouts. DCs like to take up station at sites of anatomical barriers, i.e. where the "inside" meets the "outside", (the skin, mucous membranes, alimentary canal). Here they wait for two things, signs of infection and/or inflammatory tissue damage. The surface of DCs are studded with specialized receptors, which act as sensors for infection or inflammation. When they contact such signals, a specialized maturation/activation/migration program is initiated. DCs collect a "snapshot" of the proteins present in the environment of the activation signals (such as protiens from an infectious agent), gain acces to draining lymphatic vessels, and travel to the lymph nodes. The lymph nodes are populated by many T lymphocytes. The DCs seek out T cells and "present" the proteins acquired at the peripheral sites. The T cells then become activated by the DCs and then go out on a "search and destroy" mission to eliminate anything that resembles the proteins presented by the DC (such as a bacterium infecting the body). Now here are the reasons why we think our approach is giving us superior results. Please note in many cases, we were not the first to try some of these things (though in certain instances we were), but mostly it is the fact that we assembled a number of innovatons into an integrated strategy.

1) All vaccines used (like a standard tetanus shot) rely on the material provided by the immunization to be picked up by DCs for presentation to T cells. However, we believe that the sort of immune response needed to eliminate tumors is so intense, and of a particular type that the best way to achieve it is to actually culture large numbers of the DCs outside the body and then administer them already "loaded" with the vaccine proteins.

2) We activate the DCs in a special way that mimicks infection. We use a special preparation of a compound that makes up the cell wall of bactieria called lipopolysaccharide (LPS). One of the sensors on the surface of DCs specifically recognizes LPS leading to their activation. We think that by "fooling" the DCs into believing they are under attack by a microbe, the response they generate will be particularly strong. We are the first to use LPS to activated DCs in a clinical trial. We believe that other methods to activate the DCs do not allow for maximal function.

3) We think that soluble products produced by the DCs supply special signals to T cells that allow them to be particularly effective against cancer. Brian showed that one of these soluble products, called Interleukin-12 (IL-12) endowed the T cells with the capacity to recognize and kill tumors in the test tube. T cells that were sensitized by DCs incapable of producing IL-12 could not recognize or kill tumor cells. Most other investigators trying to produce anti-cancer vaccines under-appreciate the need for IL-12. By combining LPS with another cytokine called interferon gamma (IFN-g), the DCs can produce large quantities of IL-12. Most other methods of producing DCs for vaccination will not induce them to produce IL-12.

4) We inject the DC vaccines directly into the lymph nodes. Most others inject the DCs at distal locations with the expectation that the DCs will migrate to the nodes on their own. In fact, only a very small proportion of cultured DCs actually make thier way to lymph nodes after injection. So people who do not inject directly into the nodes are cheating themselves of the best possible immune response.

5) We harvest the vaccine DCs at a time point where they are making maximal amounts of IL-12. The DCs follow a very precise program after activation and only make IL-12 for a very short window of time. Supplying the DCs too early or too late will squander the benefit of IL-12. Most other investigators give no thought to the kinetics of cytokine production and only supply DCs long after they stop making such products.

6) We specifically target cancer proteins that are associated with the tumor's ability to cause disease. HER-2/neu is a poor prognostic indicator. HER-2/neu over-producing tumors are more likely to recur after surgical resection, are more likely to be invasive and metastatic, and can be resistant to some front-line chemotherapy agents. We target such proteins so that if we are lucky, all of the tumor is killed. If we are slightly less than lucky, we can cull the tumor of the most dangerous cells leaving behind a residuum of disease that is less aggressive, more indolent, and more amenable to other therapies.

7) We target early disease. Most vaccines of the past have targeted later stage disease. This is because experimental therapies are usually supplied only when the conventional therapies have failed (hence the patient is further along in course of disease). This causes a number of problems. Late stage patients are sicker, often have little time to live, have large volumes of tumor needing to be destroyed, pre-treatment with radiation and chemo can negatively impact the bone marrow (and hence immune system), and advanced tumor are known to play tricks to turn off the immune response. For all of these reasons, we want to make vaccine therapy the first line of defense rather than the last line of defense. We hope to get to a point where vaccine therapy is used first, followed by surgery, and then, if necessary, radiation and or chemo (concentrating on techniques that do the least damage to immunity). It is also important to note that with advances in screening, we are likely in the future to catch tumors earlier and earlier. So our new therapies should be targeted here rather than late-stage disease. This does not mean that vaccines could not have benefit in later disease. But we should optimize them on early disease first before trying them out on later disease.

8) There are two types of T cells, so called "helper" T cells (Th) and the "Cytoxic" T cells (CTL). For a variety of historic reasons an excessive emphasis has been placed on CTL. Many vaccine attempts have focused exclusively on CTL, ignoring Th. We have formulated an approach that specifically recruits Th as well as CTL. We think this greatly enhances vaccine efficacy.

LIVE TO WIN ... WIN TO LIVE...

2010-11-25T02:17:00.005-05:00

picture: Ann Fonfa, Shelley Dodt and me

All my life I have been a competitor and all my life I LIVED TO WIN

Going to Championships and Olympics was amazing and participating in all those things as a skater and coach over the last 40 years was incredible.

Then I was confronted with cancer…

All of a sudden everything changed.

I realized in this situation you have to WIN TO LIVE.

Never rang the words of Vince Lombardi more true

“Winning is not everything it is the only thing !!!!”

Please check us out at www.penniesinaction.org and join the ever growing army of crusaders to win this big one…

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember the ones that passed….

Lots is happening

2010-11-23T12:51:00.002-05:00

Watch these videos about the research:

1.Very human side of 2 brilliant scientists and watch how serious they get when they talk about the breast cancer vaccine…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azud_WBqDzw

2.A tribute to Ursula Koldovsky Ph.D life. She succumbed to pancreatic cancer October 18^th 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b43Q9r48pZA&feature=share

Big thanks to the Flyers Organization

2010-10-24T13:33:00.004-04:00

Yesterday the Flyers invited us again to display our message .

Pennies in Action currently raising funds and awareness for Dr. Czerniecki’s breast cancer vaccine research, which is in it’s 2^nd phase of human trial at the University of Pennsylvania.

So far it has been very successful, but they need 50 more patients to participate in this free trial for DCIS HER2/neu. If you are diagnosed with DCIS please insist that they check if you are HER2/ neu positive, because it is not done routinely.

If you do that now , before you get any other treatment ,it will increase your chances to prevent recurrance. Afterwards you still have all the other options available to you...

For more info contact me at ukeszler@comcasr.net or 610 909 0428.

I NEED YOUR HELP TO GET THE MESSAGE OUT .....

2010-10-01T07:14:00.001-04:00

It is October which is breast cancer awareness month.

Please help getting the message out to women that are diagnosed with DCIS HER2/neu or recurrence of it.

It is an added option that uses your own immune system to fight the cancer.

You need to get the vaccine prior to surgery which still will be performed at the end of the 6 weeks. You still could get all the other conventional treatments afterwards. So far 100% of the patients had an immune response to this treatment. It should also catch cells that were deposited outside of the breast. It also gives added protection against recurrence….

They need 50 more patients. The sooner the trial is finished the faster it will be available to everyone.

Right now the trial itself is free. I wish I could take advantage of this, but my cancer was invasive and so I did not qualify for this particular trial…

The next one planned is for invasive and triple negative breast cancer, as soon as funding is in place.

If interested I can get you in touch with patients that have gone thru the trial in the last 6 years!!!!!!

Please help me to get rid of breast cancer ,so we can continue doing this for all the other cancers…..

www.penniesinaction.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-z3RVwReEg&feature=email

THERE TRULY ARE GUARDIAN ANGLES !!!!!!

2010-09-28T05:36:00.000-04:00

When I came to Germany last week, I got the shock of my life, when my sister-in-law told me that my brother had had a stroke 4 weeks prior. (she did not want to scare me before since she knew there was nothing I could do from America…

He was in the train on his way to work when he seemed to get symptoms and ultimately had an epileptic attack caused by the stroke.

A lady nearby noticed something and immediately called the conductor who quickly called 911. Within minutes a helicopter arrived where they stopped the train between stops. There are always doctors on board and he received treatment immediately…

He ended up 5 weeks in rehab, where he had to work on physical and mental therapies all day long.

Imagine he is back to work since yesterday !!!!

TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE !!!!

The woman calling for help so quickly saved my brothers life. We have been trying to find her since we do not know who it was. There are no words to describe our gratitude to this guardian angel. If anyone hears about this story and knows who it was ,please contact me at ukeszler@comcast.net

Here are some warning signs of stroke Please do not ignore them and act swiftly!!!

Lay persons can command a potential stroke victim to:

Smile.
Raise both arms.
Speak a simple sentence.

The three commands, known as the Cincinnati Prehospital Stroke Scale (CPSS), are used by health professionals as a simple first step in the assessment process for signs of stroke. If a person has trouble with any of these simple commands, emergency services (911) should be called immediately with a description of the situation, noting that you suspect the individual is having a stroke.

A stroke results from impaired oxygen delivery to brain cells via the bloodstream. According to the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the five major signs of stroke are the sudden onset of:

Numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body. The loss of voluntary movement and/or sensation may be complete or partial. There may also be an associated tingling sensation in the affected area.
Confusion, trouble speaking or understanding. Sometimes weakness in the muscles of the face can cause drooling.
Trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Severe headache with no known cause

THEY HAVE COME SO FAR IN STROKE TREATMENT, THAT YOU CAN RETURN TO A NORMAL LIFE, AS LONG AS YOU ACT VERY FAST!!!!

Please help Jamie reach her goal

2010-09-14T11:00:00.001-04:00

On Behalf of: JAIME GOULET (MITCHELL)

Dear Generous Donor,

I am writing to you on behalf of Pennies In Action Breast Cancer Foundation. I will be representing this non-profit organization in three months, as I take on my first marathon in the city of “Brotherly Love”- Philadelphia! The Philadelphia Marathon is not only a way to fund monies for a new research, but will also allow myself to represent a dear friend just recently diagnosed and to fight for the many other women--sisters, mothers, grandmothers, that need everyone’s tenacity and positive hope that “mind over matter” can prevail. As my friend Melissa says, “It doesn’t have to be breast cancer, it can be BLESSED cancer.” Let’s fight!

Pennies In Action has recently started raising thousands of dollars in the last three years, since being founded by Uschi Keszler - Olympic athlete, Olympic coach, and double cancer survivor. Having survived and seen the conquering of tuberculosis in her youth, and now as a survivor of both breast and uterine cancer, Uschi is determined to see cancer beaten in her lifetime too.

Pennies In Action is raising funds to benefit the breast cancer vaccine research of Dr. Brian Czerniecki of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Czerniecki is a highly recognized and respected oncological surgeon and researcher, who specializes in the least invasive means to treat breast cancer. He has had positive results in the first trial of his vaccine, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Pennies In Action’s goal is to make certain he has the funds he needs for the next steps in his research. For more information, please visit their website at www.penniesinaction.org

My aim is to raise $10,000.00 and so I need your support. Please take this opportunity to make a donation. Support the event as your help will do so much to help people suffering cancer.I will be accepting donations up until race day—Sunday, November 21st.

Please send cash or check, payable to Pennies in Action, to my address given below.

Jaime Goulet

Attn: PENNIES IN ACTION!!

607 S. Alice Ct. West Palm Beach, FL 33413

With your donation, you will receive a certificate thanking you for your generous offer and a follow-up letter with my results of this exciting challenge I’m racing after. I have created a website in which I will monitor the donations as they come in. http://runthelifebeforeme.webs.com Please indicate any family or friends that you would like me to run for. I have a specific “pink” running attire that I will be wearing on race day, in which will have written all of the names that are dear to your heart and mine.

If you wish to be anonymous, please indicate along with your donation. From there, your donation will be tallied for my own purposes of monitoring towards my fundraising goal, and shipped off to the Pennies In Action site in Pennsylvania.

If you have any queries regarding the event, please feel free to contact me @ jgoulet7@gmail.com
Thank you for your time and generosity!

Yours sincerely, Jaime Goulet

Do not look away TODAY... it could aready affect you TOMORROW

2010-08-22T13:35:00.002-04:00

Do not look away today….. it already could affect you tomorrow…

I am so excited about the outpouring of help and support for the cause on cancer research…

Tanja Szewczenko said it beaufifully “schau Heute nicht weg…denn es koennte dich MORGEN schon betreffen” ( do not look away today … it could already affect you tomorrow…)

Do not rely on your Doctor alone but take an active role yourself in finding out about the most recent advances in the field…

We have now a monthly bridge call where we talk about new advances. To sign up for the next one on August 25^th 8:30 pm EST

Go to www.penniesinaction.org You can bring up new ideas , tell your story , tell about your successes and concerns….

Dr. Czerniecki seems to be on top of all the things that are being done nationally. His research turned out not just to be a prevention but also a treatment and addition to conventional treatment.

When you or anybody you know is diagnosed with breast cancer check out this additional option. E-mail me and I will get you in touch with people that have gone thru the trial …

The problem with cancer research seems to be that everybody is working on their own thing and there is no major plan.

Right now we are seeing that this research is growing from DCIS to invasive breast cancer, Melanoma, pancreatic and also in the near future into brain cancer. Finally there is an approach that has a follow thru that will benefit us the patients….

Please help, what do we have to loose but we have sooooo much to gain.

This is again “ a small step for man and will become a giant step for mankind….

For more info go to www.penniesinaction.org

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-z3RVwReEg&feature=email

New Hope on the Horizon .....

2010-08-07T00:19:00.001-04:00

Through the work of Pennies in Action (volunteers, radio, TV,
blogs, website etc)... lots of people have heard and inquired about
Dr. Czerniecki's dendritic cell vaccine trial. Many are afflicted by
different types of invasive breast cancers and do not fit into this
particular trial for DCIS HER2/neu. Dr. Czerniecki was touched
over the outpouring of interest in his research...

In cooperation with experts from other major hospitals he is now
planning to extend this for patients with invasive breast cancer and
also for triple negative group with metastatic breast cancer. This will
cost $6.5 million. Grant proposals are in place but it will take time....

The trials could start now if the funding were in place. Time is of the
essence for all the patients that are afflicted with this horrible disease NOW !!!!!!!!

Please help us save millions of lives for years to come. One of them
could be yours or a loved one's.
You can donate by going to www.PenniesinAction.org

Keszler vows to turn Pennies in to Action

2010-07-21T10:15:00.007-04:00

Article on Ice network .org
News
Keszler vows to turn pennies into action
Palm Beach-area fans can skate with the stars for cancer research
Uschi Keszler is determined to make pennies add up for cancer research funding
By Lynn Rutherford, special to icenetwork.com
(07/20/2010) - It was at a 1981 choreography seminar that Uschi Keszler swirled into Brian Orser's life, impressing the athlete and his coach, Dough Leigh, with her theories on movement and "feeling the energy" of skating.

She was "a vital, demonstrative and very attractive German-American blonde who...talked about energy flow [and] capturing an inner feeling" Orser wrote in his autobiography, A Skater's Life.

The Canadian great, who now coaches Olympic champion Yu-Na Kim, ended up working with Keszler en route to two Olympic silver medals and the 1987 world title.

Nearly 30 years after that fateful seminar, Keszler has lost none of her enthusiasm and drive. As one of the owners of the four-surface IceWorks facility in Aston, Pa., site of the annual Liberty Summer Competition, she keeps things humming with style.

And as a cancer survivor, her most heartfelt efforts are devoted to her foundation, Pennies in Action, dedicated to raising funds for medical research.

"This is a concern to every person in world," Keszler, a 1965 German champion and one-time star of Holiday on Ice, said.

"They are estimating that by 2030, 13 million people will die of cancer each year. My goal is this will not happen."

Keszler -- who also coached world ice dance champions Shae-Lynn Bourne and Victor Kraatz and was an integral part of two-time Olympic silver medalist Elvis Stojko's success -- started Pennies in Action two-and-a-half years ago, after having an epiphany at her rink one morning.

"I found a penny on the floor, and I thought, what if everybody does their part and takes ownership in solving this problem, instead of hoping the top two percent [of income earners] do it," she said.

Keszler's logic: loose change, when multiplied, makes a huge impact. So she started the Penny-a-Day Club, comprising a donation of $5 for a one-year membership.

Pennies in Action's efforts center on raising funds for cancer vaccine research at The University of Pennsylvania under the direction of Dr. Brian Czerniecki and his research team. Dr. Czerniecki receives National Institute of Health support, but it falls $14,000 short per patient, and Pennies in Action helps to close that gap.

Right now, the current trial is for the breast cancer diagnosis of DCIS/Her2/neu. Next year the vaccine trial is being expanded to include those with invasive breast cancer.

At Liberty, Keszler and friends worked tirelessly, manning an information table and soliciting small donations via a 50/50 raffle, which coincidentally was won by a medical practitioner.

"I asked him, 'How charitable are you feeling?' and he donated back," the persistent, but charming, Keszler laughed.

"One of the big things is we need 50 more patients to go into this [vaccine] trial, and because people are coming [to Liberty] from all over, we can get the message out. It's still in a clinical trial, so it's not openly advertised, but it's as easy as somebody going to lunch and learning that one of their friends is diagnosed with breast cancer, and suggesting they find out about the trial."

Several of the youth hockey teams that train at IceWorks have pitched in with fundraisers; a tournament held during the Christmas season raised $2800, and a visiting Minnesota team contributed $1400.

The figure skating community is also getting involved. In Florida, adult skater and breast cancer patient Melissa Nicholas has teamed up with Shelley Dodt, breast cancer survivor and Director of the Florida Chapter of PIA, to hold Skate with the Stars on August 7th at the Palm Beach Skate Zone in Lake Worth.

This event, held in honor of local news anchor Kristin Hoke, who recently passed away after a courageous bout with cancer, gives fans a chance to skate with well-known skaters prior to the Skate Zone's Summer Sizzler Skating Show. At press time, expected participants include two-time U.S. pair champion (with Rocky Marvel) Calla Urbanski, among others. The show will be headlined by U.S. pair silver medalists Amanda Evora and Mark Ladwig, and will also feature Michael Chau, who won the 2010 U.S. junior pair title with Tracy Tanovich.

Admission is $5 per person, including skate rental. For tickets call the Palm Beach Skate Zone at (561) 963-5900. Admission for the Summer Sizzler Skating Show is $10 for adults and a jar of pennies for children and students.

To find learn more about Pennies in Action, including information on the vaccine trial, see Penniesinaction.org.

icenetwork.com

Olympians to skate in Benefit show in Forida...

2010-07-17T11:36:00.003-04:00

Contact: Jacqueline Walls
Phone: (561) 649-6674
Email: jaci@alacartemarketing.biz
www.penniesinaction.org
www.shelleydodt.com
Two local women, two different forms of breast cancer, unite to organize fundraiser to benefit Pennies in Action Breast Cancer Vaccine Research and the American Breast Cancer Foundation
‘Skate with the Stars” event to be held on August 7th at the Palm Beach Skate Zone
July 8, 2010 Lake Worth, FL – A Skate with Stars Fundraiser is planned as part of the Summer Sizzler Skating Show to be held at the Palm Beach Skate Zone in Lake Worth, Florida on August 7th from 4:10 p.m. to 5:10 p.m. The event will benefit the Pennies in Action (PIA) Breast Cancer Vaccine Research and American Breast Cancer Foundation and will precede the Skate Zone’s Summer Sizzler Skating Show that starts at 6 p.m. Admission to the Skate with Stars and Auction event is just $5 per person and includes a skate rental. Admission for the Summer Sizzler Skating Show is $10 for adults and a jar of “pennies” for children and students. The Palm Beach Skate Zone is located on Lake Worth Road just west of the Turnpike Entrance.
Local breast cancer patient, Melissa Nicholas has teamed up with Shelley Dodt, breast cancer survivor and Director of the Florida Chapter of PIA to organize and raise money for Pennies in Action. Since being diagnosed with breast cancer in March of this year, Nicholas knew she was on a mission to inspire others while fighting this disease. Since the passing of news anchor, Kristin Hoke of Channel 25, Nicholas is now even more intent on this mission.

(more)

PAGE 2 – SKATE WITH THE STARS fundraiser
Nicholas, 44, took up skating just 4 years ago with her 10-year-old daughter, MacKenzie, now she is training for the U.S. Adult Figure Skating Championships. Nicholas, currently receiving chemotherapy, plans to skate with her daughter in the Skate with the Stars event.
Nicholas was introduced to Dodt through her skating coach, Samantha de Laski, who had attended a previous Pennies in Action event. Dodt, a recipient of the breast cancer vaccine herself and local to South Florida, received 6 shots in 6 weeks and found that she was cancer free. The vaccine however comes with a large price tag of $83,000.00 and all cancers are not treated through this vaccine. The Pennies in Action organization directly funds cancer vaccine research at The University of Pennsylvania under the direction of Dr. Brian Czerniecki and his research team. He receives NIH (?) support but it falls $14,000 short per patient and Pennies in Action helps to close that gap. Right now, the current trial is for DCIS/Her2/neu (is this a particular type of breast cancer?). This summer there are plans to expand the trial to pancreatic cancer. The vaccine is also being considered for ovarian, brain and other cancer trials.
“I want to do my part to help the next generation be rid of this awful, physically maiming, life threatening disease,” says Nicholas. “I found out about Pennies in Action, founded by Olympic Skating Coach and breast cancer survivor, Uschi Keszler. My love skating led me to this organization and I thought it was a perfect avenue to raise money for a great cause that is going to touch so many lives,” continues Nicholas.
About Pennies in Action
Pennies in Action is a philanthropic organization and was founded in 2008 by Olympic figure skater, coach, inventor of the ice-skating term hydroblading, and choreographer Uschi Keszler who is herself a breast cancer survivor. The Pennies in Action fund recognizes, along with many experts, that vaccines, rather than chemotherapy remain the most advantageous avenue for dealing with cancer. It has consequently targeted as its initial project the breast cancer vaccine research of surgeon and researcher in endocrinology and oncology Brian Czerniecki, M.D., Ph.D. on the staff of the Abramson Cancer Center of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Czerniecki has had success in clinical trials and a history of gaining patents on inventions that increase antigens against cancer.
For more information on this event or to be a sponsor, call Jacqueline Walls at 561-649-6674. You may also visit us at www.penniesinaction.org to see how you can make a donation or organize a fundraising event in your area.
About The Palm Beach Skate Zone
The Palm Beach Skate Zone is one cool place to chill. Palm Beach Skate Zone Ice and Inline Center is a premier twin indoor ice skating, entertainment, and roller-skating complex. Both ice rinks have spectator seating and climate controlled "warm zone" areas. Call or click for information at: (561) 963-5900 or info@pbskatezone.com .

Crusade to conquer breast cancer is taking off...

2010-07-17T11:31:00.001-04:00

I am so excited to see all the people that are coming forward and are joining this crusade.
Pennies in Action is an all volunteer army…
We are giving every Penny possible to the research on hand.
Melissa Nichol, an adult figure skater who is now in treatment for breast cancer , is helping with an Ice show at the Skate Zone in West Palm Beach, which is benefitting Pennies in Action.
Amanda Evora /Mark Ladwig ( members of the 2010 US Olympic team)
Michael Chau ( two time national champion)
Have graciously excepted to skate in the show…
Thank you sooooooo much.
Please come out and see them
About Pennies in Action
Pennies in Action is a philanthropic organization and was founded in 2008 by Olympic figure skater, coach, inventor of the ice-skating term hydroblading, and choreographer Uschi Keszler who is herself a breast cancer survivor. The Pennies in Action fund recognizes, along with many experts, that vaccines, rather than chemotherapy remain the most advantageous avenue for dealing with cancer. It has consequently targeted as its initial project the breast cancer vaccine research of surgeon and researcher in endocrinology and oncology Brian Czerniecki, M.D., Ph.D. on the staff of the Abramson Cancer Center of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Czerniecki has had success in clinical trials and a history of gaining patents on inventions that increase antigens against cancer.
For more information on this event or to be a sponsor, call Jacqueline Walls at 561-649-6674. You may also visit us at www.penniesinaction.org to see how you can make a donation or organize a fundraising event in your area.
I cannot thank everyone enough for helping in this amazing cause. WE WILL SEE THE END OF BREASTCANCER IN OUR LIFE TIME.

www.penniesinaction.org

Youth for Pennies in Action

2010-07-12T11:23:00.001-04:00

It is so exciting how many people jump onto our crusade to wipe out breast cancer by helping to fund the dentritic cell vaccine.
This week a team of 14 year olds played in the Hockey tournament at Ice Works " One Hockey", on the "Team Mass 96". They surprised me by having a banner, T-shirts, stickers on the helmet and many , many collected coins for our cause.
I was sooo touched by all of this. I will take the money to the bank today and find out how much they collected. Thanks to their coach Joe Redfearn, who has been an amazing supporter of our cause....
This is the second Hockey team that has taken on our fight ( Ridley youth hockey club)
also sepa Lacrosse and numerous other youths, like Katie and Jennie, that have been helping us.
I know it will be our young people that will push this over the top......

Another amazing crusader for the cause

2010-06-20T14:54:00.002-04:00

This girl is a whipper snapper!

SATURDAY, JUNE 19, 2010 12:50 AM, EDT
Last Friday, the 11th, I was unloading the dishwasher and thinking to myself how 42 year old news anchor Kristin Hoke from WPTV channel 25 was doing battle with breast cancer for the second time. Then I thought if she could do this a second time, that really encouraged me on my own health journey. Then the very next day I found out Kristin had passed away. I understand her story is not my story. However, I did need a couple of days to process and mourn her death. Did I mention she left behind a 3 year old daughter? I dealt with my sadness asking God to help me with my emotions. After those couple of days it turned into that righteous anger that helps you take action. I went running in the middle of the day two days in a row just like I used to when I was training for a marathon. I went to the rink and skated for an hour last Wednesday too.

While I was running, I began to think, what if Kristin Hoke was eligible for the work being done by Pennies in Action for the Breast Cancer Vaccine from Dr. Czerniecki? You see the big problem with breast cancer is the recurrence factor as you may have seen in other victims. The great news is Dr. Czerniecki's vaccine trial has been 100% effective in wiping out the breast cancer of its eligible patients! I knew I wanted to help Pennies in Action along with being hopeful to participate in his next trial that includes my cancer diagnosis. Kristin Hoke provided the fuel to encourage me to do my part to see that this 3 year old little girl's mom didn't die in vain, helping other women realize the wonderful outcome of this vaccine. You see Dr. Czerneicki activates the patient's own immune system antibodies to go after the harmful protein Her2neu so the woman's body is trained to go after that harmful cell if this cancer tries to come back. So you can see the enormous benefit here of using our own bodies to fight the cancer!

So this past week we jumped in and for starters MacKenzie set up a snack stand to the passing golfers from our backyard raising awareness and some funds for Pennies in Action. That is her in the picture included in this journal entry. That same day we teamed up with Dolly Duke-Maggio, Melanie Silkworth, and Jaci Walls. Dolly runs the figure skating program at SkateZone, Melanie is an awesome business woman who cares about serving people, and Jaci is a marketing guru with clients from AT&T to companies launching patent pending products. Dolly took notes and went back to the rink to put together a summer ice skating show fundraiser for Pennies in Action on August 7th. Other volunteers have joined us already like Taylor Billington, Samantha de Lasky, Helena Castilla, Karen Cresswell, Lina Hurley, and Cindy Gildersleeve.

There is lots to do and only a few weeks to do it. Jaci is taking calls for more volunteers at 561-649-6674 and Helena will be accepting calls or emails for silent auction donation items at 561-718-2208 or helena@uniquepresence.com.

Dolly is also putting together an hour of ice time before the show to allow children and their chaperon (if needed) to "Skate With The Stars". Dolly and the Hockey Department are working on the list of those "Stars" with former Olympians and World competitors as well as some hockey players too! Please pray with us for those "Stars" to be open to the mission and available to be here for the show to attract a big crowd. We also need good favor from the media for great promotion and coverage of the event. Time is short and the prayers are big!

Just imagine a world where their is no more breast cancer for the next generation. Kristin Hoke was a second generation breast cancer patient. Wouldn't it be great to be a part of seeing her daughter get a vaccine that insured she would not be the third? If you want to get involved and do your part contact Jaci at 561-649-6674, even if you are far away, you are welcome to go to www.penniesinaction.org and make a donation on our behalf.

Thank you for continuing with me on my health journey...which of late appears to be turning into a health mission ;-)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
the writer of this blog is Melissa Nichol ( girl in the pink cap with her daughter McKenzie to her left) Thanks you so much Melissa for all you do for the cause....

Another wonderful donation by caring people....

2010-06-05T12:20:00.002-04:00

Dear Uschi,
I know you deal with many people at the Ice Rink and via Pennies in Action so as a reminder I belong to a horseshoe club and we had our Memorial Day tournament. So far they have donated $167.00. Not everyone was there and some forgot their coin jars at home so they will give in the future. If you are still recording persons or groups that donate please use E.C.G.C. as the donor. It stands for East Coast Gold Cup. It is a fun loving but serious horseshoe playing private club in central PA. We have been hit very hard by cancer in the club. Currently one member has brain cancer and the other has breast cancer. We have lost others recently.
Should I write a check to you or Pennies in Action or give you the cash?
Sincerely,
Rita
---------------------------------

Thank you all so much for helping THE CRUSADE. As you saw on CBS last night , the money is going into a successful venture which is bringing us closer to victory every day…..
We the people, for the people , thru the caring and actions of people….

BREAST CANCER VACCINE NEWS

2010-06-04T16:43:00.007-04:00

I am so excited to hear all the press on breast cancer vaccines. Finally we are getting ready to wrap our head around the idea that the way to deal with cancer is treating it like an infection.
That has been Dr. Czerniecki’s idea from the beginning. It made so much sense to me when I heard it. As such Pennies in Action came into being.
The results in mice have got us all excited. Well the research at University of Pennsylvania under the leadership of Dr. Czerniecki MD, PHD has been in Human trial for more than 6 years and is now in phase II with amazing results.
It also promises to have lager and wider implications down the line.
StAY TUNED TO HEAR ABOUT THE EXCITING RESULTS IN THE NEAR FUTURE…
In the meantime let everybody know about the trial so anybody diagnosed with DCIS HER2/neu should check into it as a very promising and viable option.
For info go on www.penniesinaction.org
As soon as the funding is secured the trial for invasive breast cancer will start…
Please help to make this come true asap by donating to the cause…
After seeing the amazing results in this clinical trial I cannot wait to get my vaccine, but I like so many women have to wait for the new trial since I had invasive breast cancer…..(I did not qualify for the previous trials . I was not as lucky as my friend Shelley Dodt, who had 6 shots in 6 weeks and her cancer was gone as a participant in the phase II trial at the University of Penn for DCIS HER2/neu)

Donating is easy by clicking on the widget on the right side of this page. You can use paypal or any major credit card. Thank you so much and god bless. No one in my family ever had cancer and I had 2 kinds, so no one is save. We the people for the people need to get together and win this war of suffering...!!!!!

Happy Mothers Day to All ...

2010-05-09T11:56:00.001-04:00

The thing every woman needs and wants is a life without the threat of breast cancer….

I will not stop till the Mothers Day will come where this is the case.

I want to thank all the donors and volunteers that have joined us so far but please keep the tsunami growing!!!!

Right now we need patients to participate in the 2^nd trial so we meet the FDA criteria and can make this vaccine available to all.

Invasive and hormone based breast cancer is next on the agenda .

Lets recruit all the women to join in this fight and push breast cancer over the edge and out of our lives forever!!!!!

Enjoy your day and god bless…

For more info got to penniesinaction.org

breast cancer patients needed

2010-05-07T12:51:00.000-04:00

Breast Cancer Patients Wanted!
No more Mastectomies!
Helena Nyman
Speaker & Author

Uschi Kessler
Olympic Coach
2x Breast Cancer Survivor
Founder of Pennies in Action

Shelley Dodt
Director of Pennies in Action
Florida Chapter
Cancer Survivor
Immune Therapy Trial Patient

Dear Colleagues, Clients, Professionals, Parents, Athletes, Breast Cancer Patients, Breast Cancer Survivors and Friends;

We are looking for Breast cancer Patients that have been diagnosed with DCIS HER- 2/ NEU for the FREE Trial Vaccine at the University of Pennsylvania!

If you have been diagnosed, make sure you find out if you are HER - 2 - request this additional test from your doctor!

The vaccine has been successful in all cases, and there are some additional trial patients needed to prove the case.

A STEP AHEAD
For Penn Surgery, this evolving research, just entering Phase II, may be its most promising discovery yet.

It's NOT a drug - it uses your own immune response to fight and prevent breast cancer

It's a prevention of breast cancer and therapy for breast cancer patients

This treatment will be developed for invasive breast cancer as well!

To find out if you qualify for the FREE trial, please, contact Mrs. Uschi Keszler at: Uschi Keszler ;

About Dr. Brian Czerniecki:

Dr. Czerniecki holds an advanced degree in Immunology and is the Surgical Director of the Immunotherapy Program for the Abramson Cancer Center investigating the role of the immune system in the prevention and treatment of patients with breast cancer. He has been supported by the American Cancer Society, the Susan B Komen Foundation, and the National Cancer Institute to develop vaccines for the treatment of early breast cancer. There are currently ongoing clinical trials in these areas that Dr. Czerniecki has developed including the first vaccine for the treatment of patients with DCIS. This work is being developed for patients with invasive breast cancer as well. He has been recognized by the NCI as an expert in management of DCIS and has served on several NIH panels for developing recommendations for the treatment of DCIS.

Links:

Youtube Interview

A Randomized Trial of HER-2/neu Pulsed DC1 Vaccine for Patients with DCIS

Onco Link Interview with Dr. Czerniecki

www.PenniesinAction.org

post on face book

2010-05-07T07:34:00.000-04:00

Casey Quinlan
Breast Cancer VACCINE! No, I’m NOT Kidding.
Cancer for Christmas: Making the Most of a Daunting Gift
Dr. Brian Czerniecki at the University of Pennsylvania has developed an immune-therapy treatment for ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) HER-2/neu. Yes, kids, that’s a vaccine, as well as treatment for DCIS HER-2/neu. The immune-therapy/vaccine has been in limited trials at... UPenn since 2004. An Oncolink interview with Dr. Czerniecki about the first clinical trial is here. A second trial is still ongoing – if you or anyone you know has been diagnosed with DCIS HER-2/neu, visit this link to find out how they might participate in the trial. Here’s a video of Dr. Czerniecki talking about his work: The really exciting part of this isn’t just the possibility of ending HER-2/neu breast cancer. It’s that HER proteins are the bad guys in many types of aggressive cancer: ovarian, stomach, and uterine. Dr. Czerniecki and his team are working on immune therapy for hormone-positive breast cancer (the type I had), and I plan on being near the front of the line when it’s available. Czerniecki might be the Jonas Salk of the 21st century, partly because he doesn’t want to partner with drug companies to fund his FDA trial. The Pennies In Action website gives information on how to help fund the trial. Know any gazillionaires with a cancer history in their family? Ask them if a $1M investment (or more) would be worth it to them…
Published:6 May 2010, 6:57 am
More:Read more stories
Subscribe:Subscribe to stories from this Profile
Profile:Visit my Profile
See More
Yesterday at 2:23pm via Social RSS · Comment · UnlikeLike · View Feedback (7)Hide Feedback (7) · Share
You, Casey Quinlan and 3 others like this.
Shelley McAtee Dodt
Shelley McAtee Dodt
I know for sure it works! I was a trial participant! 6 wks, 6 shots and my cancer was gone! I had no side effects!
Yesterday at 3:13pm
Uschi Keszler
Uschi Keszler
do yourself a favor and find out about this. You never know when you or a loved one needs it....
8 hour

THIS VACCINE WORKS !!!!!!!!!!!

2010-04-28T22:37:00.005-04:00

Last Friday at the Pennies in Action event “ Showers of Hope”

Karen Berner a recipient of Dr. Czerniecki’s breast cancer vaccine (currently in the 2^nd phase trial )announced:

“ 3 years ago I got 8 shots in 4 weeks for DCIS HER2/neu breast-cancer.

I am still cancer free. THIS VACCINE WORKS. !!!”

There was a huge round of applause. We need to get the message out, so we can get the necessary funding to finish this trial and help millions of women!!!!!!

You can donate at www.penniesinaction.org

Thank you so much and tell people about it… there are still spots available in the 2nd phase of the trial.

For more info go to the web-site www.penniesinaction.org or leave comments.

We have come a long way Baby....

2010-03-28T23:50:00.003-04:00

On Wednesday march 31st 8;30 p.m to 9 p.m Eastern standard time we will have our first Tele -bridge conference call about breast cancer vaccine. I am so excited....
Shelley Dodt ( a participant in the Dr. Czerniecki’s trial) and myself a 2 x cancer survivor will talk and take questions about cancer from a patients perspective.
Helena Nyman an international renowned executive coach and philanthropist will be the moderator.
Think up some questions and register. ( you will automaticially get the pin # after you register). I cannot wait to talk to you. We need every bodies help and input if we want to win this battle.!!!!
The link is:

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e2tc4zmug7670wby/start

Way to go Corey...

2010-03-21T23:26:00.002-04:00

My grandson Corey had his confirmation this week. He needed to chose his confirmation name .

He chose as his name Maurice.

I asked him; “ why Maurice”

He said : “You know Omi Maurice is the patron Saint of the soldiers and many of them need a lot of prayers”.

I was truly touched by this, and very proud of him, especially since our soldiers are another cause that is close to my heart.

2nd Annual "Vanity for Charity" outing...

2010-03-15T00:57:00.002-04:00

Wednesday we had our 2nd annual “Vanity for charity” outing to Saks fifth Avenue.
10 of us went for a make-up makeover from Chanel.
We raised $ 825 . with 100% going to breast cancer vaccine research.
We all loved the evening. Which shows, helping to fight cancer can be so much fun…..
There are endless ways to raise FUNds try it you will like it!!!!
www.penniesinaction.org

SOS please help to get the message out !!!!!!

2010-03-06T21:19:00.003-05:00

Today I talked to a friend who I had not seen since last summer.
In the meantime she was diagnosed with breast cancer ( DCIS . ductal carcinoma in situ) and had a double mastectomy 6 months ago.
This is the 2nd friend of mine this year who did not know that there are other options, like the vaccine trial etc. for DCIS.
Lots of doctors are not aware of the fact, that there are new options and that this form of breast cancer is isolated from other types. It is patients beware. Please get second opinions and educate yourself on the web about what is out there.
As soon as we can get the funding together trials will start also for brain cancer, melanoma, ovarian and pancreatic cancers… using the ICAIT ( immune conditioning activated innate transfer with dentritic cells) in lay mans terms called vaccine to prevent and treat cancer...

Please check www.penniesinaction.org
And http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-z3RVwReEg

If diagnosed with cancer please give yourself, a loved one or friend the knowledge of all the options and the best possible chance of survival by making an educated choice !!!!!!!!

WOW what a night of Skating in Vancouver

2010-02-26T09:19:00.003-05:00

It was so wonderful for me to watch the Ladies event last night from Vanvouver Olympics.
I was looking forward to this because it marked a big anniversary for me.
Last Olympics in 2006 I watched the ladies finals from my hospital bed after I just had gone thru cancer surgery that morning. I am feeling awesome now and could not believe what a difference in 4 years...
Then watching my former student Brian Orser standing on the boards as coach and mentor of Yu Na Kim and living thru her amazing performance …!!!. It brought back such memories of Calgary 1988… The battle of the Brians…. His disappointment … my aching heart for him ….
Then seeing his triumph 22 years later , back in Canada …His student becoming the Olympic champion with a record breaking and stunning performance… The joy I feel for him is impossible to put into words….
All I can say is WOW…WOW…WOW…WOW…
I know his mom Joanne is smiling in heaven….

What a difference the sunshine makes....

2010-02-11T13:20:00.002-05:00

One day after the historical snowfall in Philly the sun came out and look at the difference in the pictures. Sun is natures makeup.
Nature just is amazing....

Another example of nature's beauty

2010-02-10T21:53:00.002-05:00

The recent snowstorms on the East coast caused all kinds of trouble for travelling, power outages etc. but what beautiful serene pictures….

A happy story about vanity, aging and breast cancer

2010-01-26T22:23:00.002-05:00

by
Shelley Dodt
This is the best day to tell you this story since I turned 56 today! Last year I became a senior citizen and you know I had to give it some thought. Actually, I looked much worse in my forties when I was overweight and out of shape. By age 52, I was ready and lucky enough to get a facelife, tummy tuck, breast reduction and breast lift. Did I mention liposuction. All of this was good.
Actually, it was my breast that leads us to this story. Don’t even let anyone criticize you for vanity. It is because I was vain about two protruding extra little breasts that the surgeon neglected to take off under my arms. I guess you call it “bra fat”. So at age 55, in July 0f 2009 I decided to have it removed. The doctor said I was vain and it was nothing but fat, but I wanted it off. Surprise to everyone including the doctor when the pathology came back saying I had Ductal Carcinoma in Situ under my left arm! Now that frightened me to death! I would always give donations to breast cancer but never really wanted to know anything much about it since it is so frightening. Now I feel very differently. Do you know of anyone who can be relaxed about their mammogram?
Well I had to have surgery to have a 2.5cm piece of it removed and then further news came saying not only did I have Ductal Carcinoma in Situ but it was something called Her2/neu positive as well. A quick trip to the internet gave me a very fast education about that. I found out that if I had not found out about this DCIS, in two or three years it would have turned into invasive cancer. Invasive cancer involves chemotherapy and with Her2/neu is a very aggressive cancer. So even though my mammogram, MRI and Ultrasound were all negative, I still had cancer. This was very scary even though I was considered stage 0.
I did my research for clinical trials on my own after seeing several doctors who could only offer me more surgery and radiation therapy. I began to wonder what would happen if there were more DCIS cells in there floating around waiting to become invasive. The vaccine worked by taking your own white cells and making vaccine specific to your own body and injection them into your body once a week for six weeks. At the end, they do a mammogram, MRI and some other tests and then you have surgery. I tolerated everthing without any side effects. I did have to travel to Philadelphia for the shots, but I came to love the city and the University of Pennsylvania campus is beautiful.

Finding Dr. Czerniecki’s clinical trial at the University of Pennsylvania was like being pulled out of a burning building. I did have to go through many tests to qualify for the trial. His coordinator Jeanne Schueller was very helpful in getting me all the information and scheduling all the tests needed.
In the end my pathology came back completely clean. No sign of cancer anywhere and four lymph nodes checked were completely. everyone associated with the trial was very professional and kind.
Now I am associated with a 501(c)(3) group called Pennies in Action. My friend Uschi Keszler who is an Olympic Ice Skater and Olympic Coach and sister breast cancer survivor has formed a charity growing funds to help fund further cancer vaccines for all types of cancer. The money goes directly to the doctor and his team doing the research. Dr. Brian Czerniecki at the University of Pennsylvania can be seen on You Tube explaining how his vaccines work. We are all hopeful that the day will come soon when cancer will be an easily treatable or preventable disease.
So this is how vanity saved my life. If I had not decided to get rid of that ugly bra fat, the DCIS cells would have become invasive cancer. Now, I want to educate all women not to be afraid and to find out about breast cancer. Early detection and intervention can save your life. Dr. Czerniecki’s vaccine gives me the confidence to know I have had the best treatment available today. My biggest wish is that all people diagnosed with cancer could have the opportunity to get a vaccine like mine.

for info and to contact Shelley go to www.penniesinaction.org

Huge success for cancer vaccine research...

2010-01-23T19:35:00.001-05:00

After having great results with breast cancer vaccine with dendritic cells also called (ICAIT= immune conditioning activated innate transfer with dendritic cells)
Dr. Czerniecki has now requests for using his approach in trials for
Brain, ovarian, pancreatic, melanoma cancers and other protocols for breast cancer.
It is now imperative to get the funding for more space and labs and personnel. It is absolutely amazing what has happened in the 2 years that I am involved with this thru my foundation
Pennies in Action.
Fasten your seat belt, we will see the end of cancer in our life time….
I saw it in the 1970’s as a tuberculosis patient, when the lung sanatorium that I had been in for 8 months in 1966 was closed, because they had gotten TB under control. ( Before that it was the dreaded disease of the times…)
It is now a race for time, so we can give the scientists what they need so they can complete the work that still needs to be done.
For more info and to donate go to
www.penniesinaction.org
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-z3RVwReEg
This is so exciting for me, especially since I have faced a cancer diagnosis twice so far…

I WANTED TO SHARE THIS

2010-01-10T21:36:00.001-05:00

Remarks from CBS Sunday Morning - Ben Stein

I Only hope we find GOD again before it is too late !

The following was written by Ben Stein and recited by him on CBS Sunday Morning Commentary.

My confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are, Christmas trees.

It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me.. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it.. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away.

I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from, that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat.
Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God, as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to.

In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking.

Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (Regarding Hurricane Katrina). Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?'

In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school.. The Bible says thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK.

Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave, because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr. Spock's son committed suicide).. We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said okay.

Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.

Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.'

Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell. Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire, but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace.

Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it.

Pass it on if you think it has merit.

My Best Regards, Honestly and Respectfully,

Ben Stein

Please Help !!!!!

2009-12-31T11:32:00.000-05:00

As you know I am involved in raising funds for breast cancer vaccine research. For more info go to www.penniesinaction.org
Which by the way has now expanded to ovarian cancer vaccine research at Penn.
If you or anybody you know gets diagnosed with DCIS with over expressed HER2/neu please tell them about the option of the vaccine /treatment
I am so upset. A friend of the family was diagnosed in march with having breast cancer again after 20 years. I heard about it after she had surgery , and had started chemo and radiation.
Christmas eve I saw her and found out she had DCIS with HER2/neu.
Which means she would have been eligible for the trial…!!!
She wants to see Dr. Czerniecki now after the fact. We, women and men, need to know our options. The doctors do not tell us all, we need to help each other and inform each other about what is out there.
I cannot stress it enough. By next year an estimated 1, 000 000 people will have been diagnosed with DCIS.
Please tell your friends to get the message out. The first 3 patients in the new trial have had amazing success. Do not keep this option from your friends and loved ones!!!
I know I am pushy about this fact, but in the case of our friend I should have been a lot pushier so she would have known…
I wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous new year and please help to get us all closer to wiping out the threat of cancer!!!!!

Pennies in Action got the final approval as a 501 (c) (3) public charity

2009-12-19T16:28:00.002-05:00

This is the best Christmas present. After almost 2 years we got our final papers from the IRS . We filed 4/28/08 and received the final approval 12/14/09. This means that our hands have been untied to start fundraising in a big way.
Thru the generosity of the Seifert family fund we had been able to start a term fund at University of Pennsylvania so we could start immediately our efforts to raise funds for cancer vaccine research. It all had to go thru the Trustees of the University but because of the term fund all moneys went directly to the research….
Now we are able to deal direct thru Pennies in Action.
The new trial is showing amazing results so far.
Pennies in Action wants to raise funds and awareness for a Immuno therapy center and a cancer think tank so that the brightest minds get together and eliminate the threat of cancer in the next decade. But I need every bodies help. This is a global threat and affects every body to some extent. I am the first one in my family to have had cancer and I had 2 kinds. So I felt first hand that no one is save.
If every body gives just a little we can do this.
Remember economic down turns are temporary, but the affects of cancer are permanent.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Holiday season !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some of the losses in skating since we got rid of school figures

2009-12-06T19:49:00.000-05:00

It is 18 years since we eliminated figures in skating. I am always working on analyzing what we lost because of that. And how to put back into the grammar of skating to fill the void.
One of the major things is that the skating side is not getting educated anymore and the free-side is taking over to much.
In order to not change edge and have flats in turns you needed to stay properly over your hip. As we concentrated on the print it was a natural development. We always were told “ stand over the hip” Doing it hours a day it was inevitable to get a good amount of that.
Recently I watched a tape of Janet Lynn and it was amazing how controlled she was on the skating side. Which is partly the reason that she had such great run on the blade . As my coach Helmut Seibt always said the run of the blade is supreme to everything else… As Elvis Stojko put it “ The blade rules…”
As we took away the education of the print the blade made it seems the blade has lost its voice.
It is amazing how few skaters now have true blade control. Imagine a concert pianist having very little sense of touch in his or her fingers…
We lost accuracy, sense of symmetry , true flow during transitions and true sense of circle.
In my humble opinion all these things are contributing to all the injuries we are having in skating. When properly aligned over the skating hip, skating is low impact. If not it becomes very high impact and our hip knee and ankle joints are not able to endure the daily abuse…

Another success story for the breast cancer vaccine trial

2009-11-26T11:16:00.004-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Here is another testimonial about a new success story for Dr. Czerniecki's breast cancer vaccine trial at the University of Pennsylvania. If anyone gets diagnosed with breast cancer please let them check it out and see if they are elegable for this trial. I was diagnosed 4 years ago and much to my dismay was not but so many are...
By next year in America alone 1 000 000 women will have been diagnosed with DCIS ( ductal carcinoma in situ)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

A recipient of the vaccine : I am so thankful to tell people that this vaccine works! My biopsies and lymph nodes are all disease free! I can't wait to start helping other people because even though I am very happy for myself, I will never feel completely happy until I know we have done all we can to just get rid of cancer for everyone forever. Ev...en though it might seem like baby steps, each step is so important and each person healed is such a celebration! Thanks Uschi for all your love and encouragement!S.D.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please tell everybody about this.
For more info check
www.penniesinaction.org

Win Gold by beating cancer

2009-11-23T17:47:00.003-05:00

In light of the upcoming Olympic games, Pennies in Action is having another fundraiser.
Pennies in Action measures donation into distance. Every penny is ¾ of an inch.
48 pennies is a yard and 84 480 ($ 845) equals a mile.
The Olympic flame travels 6092 miles from Athens to Vancouver .Let’s see how much distance we can cover between now and the end of the Games.
You can donate on line at www.penniesinaction.org or send checks to
Pennies in Action
3100 Dutton Mill Rd
Aston PA 19014
USA

Our dear friend Bob rest in peace....

2009-11-22T23:24:00.002-05:00

A few hours ago our dear friend Bob passed away. He fought a brave fight against cancer, but after much suffering lost it tonight….
We will miss him terribly. He has been a dear friend of ours since I first came to America many years ago.
He had such a sunny disposition and took everything life handed him in stride. He always said” it is what it is…”
He made our time in Florida so happy. My husband will miss him so much. They shared so many things.
We must solve this horrible suffering caused by cancer.!!!!
They are so close and it is so upsetting that funding stands in the way. It again comes down to money…
I will give it my last breath to help to get rid of this horrible disease. I promise you that Bob...
I made the start with www.penniesinaction.org
I know you are in a good place now. We will always love you and never forget you….

Another Corey story....

2009-11-21T13:58:00.000-05:00

And how I love them and love to share them.
The other day my two grand kids were talking about their Christmas list. So Corey said “ Omi , for Christmas Justin and I would like play station 3 for the two of us. I know we have play station 2 but a lot of the new games are not made for that. Besides we have had it for 17 years!’
I said “ but Corey you are only 11” To that he answered “ I know but it sure feels like it….”
I can always count on the two of them to come up with it…