Brain Cancer

At a lab on the edge of the Johns Hopkins University's East Baltimore medical campus, researchers grow tumors on mice so they can try and cure them. But one day, the cancer wouldn't grow. They tried again and again for months. Figuring there must be something different about this batch of mice, they finally discovered the rodents had been given a drug to prevent pinworm. Three years later, the common parasite treatment that retails for a few dollars a dose is being given to terminal brain cancer patients in a trial that could lead to more widespread use. Researchers who toiled for years for such a discovery said they still are investigating how it works.

At a lab on the edge of the Johns Hopkins University's East Baltimore medical campus, researchers grow tumors on mice so they can try and cure them. But one day, the cancer wouldn't grow. They tried again and again for months. Figuring there must be something different about this batch of mice, they finally discovered the rodents had been given a drug to prevent pinworm. Three years later, the common parasite treatment that retails for a few dollars a dose is being given to terminal brain cancer patients in a trial that could lead to more widespread use. Researchers who toiled for years for such a discovery said they still are investigating how it works.

A story in a motorcycle trade paper started Bob Henig on his 20-year crusade to help children overcome a deadly disease that attacks 11 of them in the U.S. daily. The children's stories of coping, surviving and sometimes succumbing have kept him riding to raise money to battle pediatric brain cancer. He will be on the road Sunday, leading a charity drive of about 400 motorcyclists that will likely surpass the $3 million milestone in local funds raised for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

Ann M. Rayner, who worked for Laureate Education Inc. in Baltimore for a decade, died Oct. 4 of brain cancer at Stella Maris Hospice in Timonium. She was 53. Ann Marie Ritter was born in Waterloo, N.Y., and raised in Seneca Falls, N.Y., where she graduated in 1978 from Mynderse Academy High School. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from the State University of New York in Geneseo in 1982 and a master's degree in higher education from Walden University, an online university, this year.

Brain cancer, once thought to reach a peak rate in patients in their 60s and then decline rapidly, now appears to continue to increase dramatically in older Americans to age 85 and beyond, says a new study in today's issue of the Journal of the National Institute of Cancer."

The state health department is investigating whether conditions at a Baltimore office building may have led to brain cancer in two former environmental officials.The two men had nearby offices on the second floor of a laboratory tower on Preston Street during the 1980s. Today, they both wonder if samples of hazardous waste that were analyzed on the floors below and above them caused their rare form of cancer. The labs in the seven-story Herbert R. O'Conor Building have been cited before by state environmental inspectors for incorrectly storing and disposing of wastes.

Former Orioles manager Johnny Oates was reported in good condition yesterday after surgery on a malignant brain tumor at Johns Hopkins Hospital. "He's doing well after surgery," said hospital spokesman Trent Stockton, explaining that the family had requested that no more information be released. Oates, 55, was found to have a particularly aggressive type of brain cancer on Nov. 5 after experiencing slurred speech and weakness on his left side. His condition, called glioblastoma multiforme, is considered the most deadly and difficult to treat form of brain cancer, said Dr. Andrew S. Kennedy, a radiation oncologist at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

SEATTLE -- Having too low a level of a naturally occurring protein in the body is strongly associated with the development of brain cancer, University of Washington scientists have found.The protein, called MGMT, defends brain cells against damage caused by nitrosamines, a cancer-causing chemical found in preserved foods, tobacco smoke and fermented products such as beer. The research found that patients with low levels of the protein were more likely to develop brain tumors than others in the study.

Genetic Therapy Inc., the Gaithersburg biotechnology company, and its parent, Sandoz AG, launched a pivotal, large-scale clinical trial yesterday of what the companies hope will prove a groundbreaking way to treat an incurable form of brain cancer -- gene therapy.The companies said the trial involves 250 patients suffering from glioblastoma multiforme at 40 medical institutions in the United States, Canada and Europe.There is a lot riding on the trial for Sandoz, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant.

Daniel Joseph Siegel, a rising junior at Yale University who taught martial arts to students and faculty, died on Saturday morning after a lengthy battle with brain cancer. He was 22. Mr. Siegel was born in Baltimore and graduated from Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School in Pikesville. A political science major at Yale, he excelled both inside and outside the classroom. He is the son of Janet Berg and Dr. Everett Siegel, a psychiatrist and assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.

As a caregiver, Richard DeCaro knows that a little kindness goes a long way. And now he has a local nonprofit organization to thank for making his life a little easier. The Dorsey's Search resident began taking care of his wife, Ellen, in 2008 after she was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer at age 50. She had been teaching consumer science at Dunloggin Middle School in Ellicott City, the happy result of a late-in-life career switch, when she awoke from a nap one day and didn't know who she was, he says.

Roughly three times a year, John Cena changes colors. Typically we see his "kit" in a predominant black, green, orange, black again, red, purple, black again, etc. This time, the CeNation will wear a color their leader has never donned before - and it brings a charitable twist . Tonight at the Night of Champions pay-per-view event, for his main event match with CM Punk, John Cena will wear pink. Pink hat, pink arm band, black shirt with pink logo. The message? Rise Above Cancer.

By coincidence, Dan Rodricks ' column on the ruling by the Maryland Court of Appeals labeling pit bulls as "inherently dangerous" coincided with the untimely death of Alan Jay Eidelberg, a longtime Baltimore veterinarian in the Govans community. Mr. Eidelberg was the one-man operation also known as the York Road Animal Hospital. He died in hospice care April 30 at the age of 59 after a short battle with brain cancer. In a beautiful tribute prepared by his family and friends that appeared in The Sun, Mr. Eidelberg was praised for the compassionate, first-rate care he gave his patients, for his expert skills as a diagnostician and for his generosity in treating pets whose owners had difficulty paying their bills.

Let me start by saying I don't have the whole "Zaching" thing down yet. Oh, I tried. It's the flex-the-biceps part that gets me. You kind of need biceps first. But everyone else seems to have the hang of it. Men, women and kids are "Zaching. " Celebrities, athletes, regular Joes and Janes are doing it, too. They're "Zaching" all over the country, all over the world. I look for the Coke polar bears to be "Zaching" any day now. Oh, look at that — just saw a photo of Maryland basketball coach Mark Turgeon "Zaching.

If you see Santa Claus, or perhaps some elves or some reindeer, running through the streets of Havre de Grace, don't be alarmed. Chances are good they'll be trotting through town as part of the Running With the Reindeer 5K race. This is the inaugural 5K Run and 1K Fun Walk for the Jane M. Johnston Foundation, which raises money to help children fighting cancer. The foundation was started by Mrs. Johnston's husband, Alex. Just before she died four and a half years ago of melanoma, Mrs. Johnston asked her husband of 15 years "to do something" for kids with cancer.

A story in a motorcycle trade paper started Bob Henig on his 20-year crusade to help children overcome a deadly disease that attacks 11 of them in the U.S. daily. The children's stories of coping, surviving and sometimes succumbing have kept him riding to raise money to battle pediatric brain cancer. He will be on the road Sunday, leading a charity drive of about 400 motorcyclists that will likely surpass the $3 million milestone in local funds raised for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

The losing battle Lee Atwater fought with brain cancer should not be taken as evidence that the disease is always so quickly terminal, a University of Maryland expert says.Mr. Atwater, who was general chairman of the Republican National Committee, was diagnosed last March and died Friday at age 40.According to Dr. Richard Kaplan, head of neuro-oncology at the University of Maryland Medical Center, modern methods of treatment have led to "long-term" survival for some patients in the young-adult age group.

Elizabeth K. "Beth" Hendrickson, a pharmaceutical sales representative who restored a Baltimore County farmhouse, died May 21 of brain cancer at her Upperco home. She was 53. Elizabeth Kearney was born and raised in Mechanicsburg, Pa. She was a 1975 graduate of Mechanicsburg Area High School. While attending Millersville University in Millersville, Pa., where she earned a degree in fine arts in 1979, she met and fell in love with a classmate, Karl L. Hendrickson, whom she married in 1981.