Jamie Gilmore, sporting her Jamie’s Hope for a Cure T-shirt under a black blazer, joins husband Garrick Glascock, from left, and sister Cindy Gilmore in congratulating Apostolia Tsimberidou, M.D., Ph.D., after a recent presentation on her research in acinic cell carcinoma.
Jamie hopes for a cure
One patient’s rare cancer inspires collective effort
Promise – Fall 2012 – By Erica Quiroz
Jamie Gilmore is a fighter.
In 1996, she was diagnosed with acinic cell carcinoma (ACC), a rare cancer that affects the parotid gland, the largest of the salivary glands. She’s been in remission from it twice.
Now, the 30-year-old native Houstonian is in her third bout with ACC. She created Jamie’s Hope for a Cure with her husband, Garrick Glascock, in May to help fund research for targeted therapy at MD Anderson.
“My family and I were surprised that there haven’t been any new developments in ACC treatment,” Jamie Gilmore says. “We thought surely something would be different from 15 years ago.”
ACC affects an average of 135 people a year and accounts for 6-10% of all salivary gland cancers.
To help create awareness, Gilmore and her family promote Jamie’s Hope by selling maroon and white bracelets for $5. They also collect donations through the website jamieshope.org.
“The money we raise funds research for other rare forms of cancer and for people who don’t have a standard form of treatment,” Gilmore says.
Jamie’s Hope also partnered with the Texas Realtors® Leadership Program (TRL), after Gilmore, who owns a real estate brokerage firm, joined in March.
With the TRL’s help, Jamie’s Hope organized an October gala, “Masquerade for a Cure,” at River Oaks Country Club in Houston, with all proceeds benefiting targeted therapy research at MD Anderson.
“Each year the TRL decides on a legacy project that will benefit the community,” Gilmore says. “Once they heard my story and what I’ve been through, they decided to help promote our event.”
Gilmore says Jamie’s Hope’s main goal is “to find more treatments for people whose current options are no longer working.”
“I would love to know why I have this rare form of cancer, but more than that I want to live, and I know other patients do too,” she says.
Published link: http://www.mdanderson.org/publications/promise/issues/fall-2012/jamie-hopes-for-a-cure.html
