3rd Annual, “The Greatest Escape” Motorcycle Ride is Back with Grand Marshal Fabio, Register Now!

Worthington & Caron is thrilled to announce that it will again serve as lead sponsor for the 3rd Annual “The Greatest Escape” Motorcycle Ride for Mesothelioma Research in Los Angeles. “The Greatest Escape” is inspired by actor and motorcycle enthusiast Steve McQueen, whose vibrant life was cut short by mesothelioma at the age of 50 on November 7, 1980. The Greatest Escape is hosted by The Pacific Mesothelioma Center (PMC) at the Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (PHLBI), with 100% of proceeds supporting PMC’s much-needed research for a cure for mesothelioma.

“The Greatest Escape” will take place on Sunday July 26, 2015. Sign-in and day of event registration begins at 8:30 AM, with the ride taking off at 10 AM from Glendale Harley-Davidson located at 3717 San Fernando Rd in Glendale. Riders will cruise along scenic Angeles Crest Highway led by this year’s celebrity grand marshal, actor/model and motorcycle enthusiast Fabio Lanzoni. The ride will finish at the legendary mountain-top roadhouse, Newcomb’s Ranch.

Upon arriving at Newcomb’s ranch, riders can kick back in the shade of the surrounding redwoods, enjoy a barbeque lunch, quench their thirst with a cold craft beer and be entertained by the rock band Cherry & the Bulldogs. There will also be raffle prizes and a live auction. K-Earth 101’s Morning Show host, Gary Bryan, will MC the event.

Registration for riders is $40, and $30 for passengers who pre-register by July 25, 2015. Day of event registration is $45 for riders and $35 for passengers. Participants will receive a commemorative pin, bandanna, and lunch. Non-riders are also welcome to join for $25 which covers lunch, entertainment, and parking.

For more information, sponsorship opportunities and to register please visit http://www.thegreatestescape.org/, or contact Clare Cameron at 310-478-4678, or via email: ccameron@phlbi.org.

The last two years raised over $100,000 for mesothelioma research! Help us break the record!

• The Greatest Escape Shows Anything's Possible
• “The Greatest Escape” Motorcycle Rally for Meso - The Sequel

Over $95,000 raised for Mesothelioma Research--Pacific Meso Center’s 3rd Annual Walk/Hike for Meso a Tremendous Success!

Team W&C members Jim Parnel,
Juniel Worthington, John and Suzanne
Caron, with PMC Exec. Dir. Clare
Cameron and Volunteers

Pacific Meso Center’s 3rd Annual Walk/Hike for Meso took place on Sunday, October 12th at the scenic Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills. With the picture-perfect weather and impeccable organization by the event’s many volunteers, energy and anticipation were high.

The event was attended by several mesothelioma patients, as well as over 250 participants, many of whom are friends and family of persons whose lives have been rocked by mesothelioma. Each kilometer was marked with signs sponsored by families in memory of the loved ones affected by the disease. There were also mesothelioma and asbestos facts scattered throughout the course, and a quiz at the completion of the walk with prizes for the top scores. 

After finishing the challenging hike along five kilometers of dirt paths in the hills above the ranch, hikers were greeted with cheers, an assortment of cold beverages and the hot R&B sounds of Cherry & The Bulldogs. Hikers were then rewarded with a delicious lunch from Ottavio’s Italian Restaurant, donated by owner Noella Belvedere who lost her husband Ottavio to mesothelioma in 2007. Noella and her family are no strangers to the cause, having raised more than $120,000 for mesothelioma research over the years.

  

Along the Dusty Trail!

When the dust cleared, the event raised $95,000 for much-needed research into lung-sparing treatments for mesothelioma. This amount exceeded PMC’s goal for the event for the third year in a row, and donations are still coming in! Friends and family of Gene Lepore brought home the honors for top fundraising team with their team, Team Gigi, bringing in $8,015. They were followed by last year’s top fundraising team, Irish Stampede, with $6,952, and Team Chuck Jarvis repeated last year’s third-place performance with $6,909.

PMC Scientific Advisor
Dr. Robert Cameron
Thanking the Hikers for 
Supporting Meso Research

The Worthington & Caron law firm is proud to have been the lead sponsor of the PMC Hike for Meso for the third year in a row. “This is a unique event which brings together families and friends of persons afflicted with mesothelioma to share camaraderie and sense of mission in a beautiful outdoor setting,” commented Worthington & Caron partner John Caron. “The event gets bigger and bigger every year, and has already become a tradition for many of the families who participate.”

PMC’s Annual Walk/Hike for Meso is held in loving memory of Ottavio Belvedere, Bruce Bell, Mark Ganoe, Charles Jarvis, Sr., John Johnson, Gene Lepore, Gerry McCarthy, Kevin McCarthy, Rosa Gonzalez, Robert Vitale and to all those who have lost their battle with mesothelioma.

Worthington & Caron Proud to Again Sponsor the 4th Annual International Symposium on Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma

On June 7 some of the leading physicians involved in the diagnosis and treatment of pleural mesothelioma will meet at the Sheraton Delfina in Santa Monica, California for the 4th Annual International Symposium on Lung-Sparing Therapies for Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma. The symposium will be an all-day affair and begin at 8 am.

Worthington & Caron is proud to sponsor this symposium for the fourth consecutive year.

Once again, Dr. Robert B. Cameron will lead the symposium.  In addition to being the Director of the UCLA Mesothelioma Comprehensive Research Program, Dr. Cameron also is the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center and Scientific Advisor at the Pacific Meso Center.

Although the seminar is geared toward physicians, it also offers continuing medical education credit and the latest information on mesothelioma for medical students, nurses, mesothelioma patients and their families

The Symposium is co-hosted by UCLA and the Pacific Meso Center. Joining Dr. Cameron will be several physicians (both 'home-grown' and international colleagues) and mesothelioma advocates, including:

• Olga Olevsky, MD, of UCLA Medical Center
• Percy Lee, MD, Chief Thoracic Radiation Oncology at UCLA
• Dr. Richard Lemen, Former Assistant Surgeon General of the United States
• Irene I-Lan Wu, MD, UCLA Pain Management Center 
• Joachim Aerts, MD, of Erasmus MC Cancer Institute in the Netherlands
• Jan P. van Meerbeeck, MD of Antwerp University Hospital in Belgium,
• Linda Reinstein, President/CEO and Co-Founder Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization,

The symposium will be divided into four sessions: Lung-Sparing Surgical Techniques, Lung-Sparing Adjuvant Therapies, Potential Future Adjuvant Therapies and Supportive Therapies.

To register for the symposium, click here.

For a copy of the brochure, click here.

Pacific Meso Center Receives $100,000 Donation to Fund Stem Cell Mesothelioma Research

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pacific Meso Center (PMC), a Division of The Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute (PHLBI), is pleased to acknowledge a generous $100,000 donation from Roger G. Worthington of the Law Office of Worthington & Caron, PC to fund the Center's Mesenchymal Stem Cell Program. The goal of this unique research project is to develop innovative treatments for malignant pleural mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer affecting the lining of the chest.

Mesenchymal stem cells are potent cells found in a variety of tissues, i.e., bone marrow, placenta, and others and can grow and mature into a variety of different cell types. Scientists recently have found that mesenchymal stem cells easily can be harvested from discarded human placentas and this observation has opened a new chapter in stem cell medicine.

Mesenchymal stem cells already are utilized in FDA-approved therapies to modify serious inflammatory autoimmune diseases. "Placenta-derived mesenchymal stem cells are intriguing because they, like the placenta, are not easily recognized by the body as foreign tissue, which makes them an excellent source of universally-compatible stem cells for use in cancer therapy," said Dr. Robert Cameron, Scientific Advisor at the PMC, Director of the UCLA Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program, and Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center. "Modified mesenchymal stem cells can serve as a vehicle for delivering a wide range of molecular and gene therapies directly to the site of cancer, and may be particularly useful in mesothelioma, thymoma, and lung cancer. We plan to test the effects of mesenchymal stem cells on multicellular tumor spheroids -- a custom designed 3-D model for studying mesothelioma treatments in the laboratory."

"After a patient undergoes mesothelioma surgery, much of the tumor is excised, but some cancer cells inevitably remain," Dr. Cameron noted. "To destroy the remaining cancer cells, modified mesenchymal stem cells can be delivered to the exact location where the cancer was surgically removed and destroy any residual cancer cells. This cutting-edge strategy has the potential both to increase the chance of long-term survival and eliminate current treatments with significant side effects, such as radiation and chemotherapy."

"We certainly are pleased to provide the funds to begin this groundbreaking research which holds immense potential to lead to effective treatments not only for mesothelioma but perhaps for many other cancers as well," said Roger Worthington, long-term supporter of the PMC and principal of the Law Office of Worthington and Caron PC.

Clare Cameron, Executive Director of PHLBI, was pleased to accept the donation. "Although this generous gift will get this important research off the ground, we ultimately need additional funds before we can translate this work into a reality for doctors and patients," Ms. Cameron pointed out. "We encourage everyone who can to contribute so that we can speed this development on before even another single person loses his or her battle with this horrible disease."

For more information about the Pacific Mesothelioma Center, please click on www.phlbi.org/divisions/lung-disease/pacific-meso-center.

Roger Worthington, Esq. can be reached via www.mesothel.com or by phone at 800.831.9399.