Debbie's Dream Foundation and prIME Oncology Jointly Sponsor 4th Annual Stomach Cancer Education Symposium, Featuring Distinguished Line-up of Medical Professionals

Hundreds of patients and families gain in-depth gastric cancer insights from top oncology and health care experts

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Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer

May 23, 2014, 08:30 ET

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- A panel of oncologists and health care experts from leading institutions across the U.S. joined Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (DDF) in hosting its 4^th annual Stomach Cancer Education Symposium. The Symposium, supported by Lilly Oncology, convened at 9:00 AM on April 26, 2014. Patients, families, caregivers, and healthcare professionals heard the latest on novel gastric cancer treatment options, side effect management, integrative medicine, clinical trials, genomics, and nutritional considerations.

David H. Ilson, MD; Jordan D. Berlin, MD; Peter Sprague, PT, DPT, OCS (Symposium Co-Chair); Adam Bass, MD, PhD; Debbie Zelman (DDF President and Founder); Jeffrey Norton, MD; Libia F. Scheller, PhD (Symposium Co-Chair); Edith P. Mitchell, MD, FACP; Kathleen Mary Wesa, MD; and Jaffer A. Ajani, MD (PRNewsFoto/Debbie's Dream Foundation)

Speakers, patients, families, caregivers, and health care professionals attended the 4th Annual Stomach Cancer Education Symposium at the Harbor Beach Marriott Resort & Spa (PRNewsFoto/Debbie's Dream Foundation)

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140522/90493

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140522/90494

The symposium was planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of prIME Oncology and Debbie's Dream Foundation. prIME Oncology is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians. 300 patients, families, caregivers, and health care professionals registered for the symposium. Participants had the option to view the lectures in person or through an interactive live webcast which could be viewed worldwide. The lectures will also be housed on the Debbie's Dream Foundation website at www.DebbiesDream.org.

The panel of speakers included a broad range of distinguished medical professionals including:

Jaffer A. Ajani, MD - University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas
Adam Bass, MD - Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts
Jordan Berlin, MD - Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center, Nashville, Tennessee
A. William Blackstock, Jr, MD - Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
David Ilson, MD, PhD - Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York
Edith Mitchell, MD, FACP - Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jeffrey Norton, MD - Stanford University, Stanford, California
Kathleen Mary Wesa, MD - Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York

"Crucial information was relayed to patients, their families, and caregivers," said Symposium Co-Chair Libia Scheller, PhD, MBA. "For example, Dr. Bass shared details regarding the progress of genomic profiling and how this technology will increasingly guide gastric cancer therapy treatment by specifically identifying which activated proteins drive an individual's tumor. These discoveries will help in the selection of more specific and optimal targeted drugs to use for cancer treatment."

"For battling gastric cancer I believe that it is important that patients, families and caregivers have face-to-face interactions with and guidance from these stomach cancer experts," said Debbie Zelman, President & Founder of DDF. "In addition, there are funding constraints that limit cancer research, but DDF continues to advocate for a stronger infrastructure so that the medical community can advance the diagnosis and treatment of stomach cancer."

ABOUT DEBBIES DREAM FOUNDATION: CURING STOMACH CANCER

DDF was founded in 2009 by Debbie Zelman after she was diagnosed with Stage IV incurable stomach cancer in 2008 and given only weeks to live. Zelman immediately began to educate herself about this disease and to seek the best available care. When she responded favorably to her treatment, Debbie founded DDF which now has 20 chapters throughout the United States and Canada and a Medical Advisory Board of 25 renowned doctors from across the country. Now, six years later, Debbie is still receiving chemotherapy and is thrilled to be able to watch her three children grow up.

Debbie's Dream Foundation is committed to raising awareness about stomach cancer, providing funding for research, and helping provide education and support to patients, families, and caregivers around the world. The disease is estimated to be the fourth most common cancer worldwide and the second leading cause of death. Those who have been diagnosed with Stage IV have a four percent chance of being alive in five years.

Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (DDF) was founded by Debbie Zelman in 2009 after she was diagnosed with Stage IV stomach cancer in 2008. The organization is the leading 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to internationally raising awareness about stomach cancer, advancing funding for research, and providing education and support to patients, families, and caregivers. Debbie's Dream Foundation seeks as its ultimate goal to make the cure for stomach cancer a reality.

Media Contact: Jenna Reed
(954) 475-1200 or Email

SOURCE Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer