Cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A first-of-a-kind prostate cancer treatment that uses the body's immune system to fight the disease received federal approval Thursday, offering an important alternative to more intensive treatments like chemotherapy. Dendreon Corp.'s Provenge vaccine trains the immune system to fight tumors. It's called a "vaccine" even though it treats disease rather than prevents it. Doctors have been trying to develop such a therapy for decades, and Provenge is the first to win approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

The Pegasus Ride for Cancer is from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 20, at Pegasus Radio Control Airplane Club on Old Forge Road in Hagerstown. This is a self-paced organized motorcycle ride. The route is a little more than 60 miles long through the mountains of central Maryland and south central Pennsylvania. Registration costs $10 per driver and $5 per rider, and includes lunch and a "show. " For more information, contact Rick Marquiss at 301-331-7025 or treasurer@pegasusrc.com .

A Martinsburg man is accused of faking having terminal cancer after a benefit for him raised more than $4,200, according to court documents. Steven Lee Mohn, 38, of Opal Court, was arraigned Tuesday on one count of false pretenses by Berkeley County Magistrate Harry L. Snow, according to court documents. The benefit, a Poker Run featuring live music, free food, games, a 50/50 raffle and door prizes, raised $4,260 in contributions, records stated. The event was held May 6 at Shipwrecked Bar & Grill near Martinsburg, according to the business' website.

The Performers of Hope will present a concert titled "A Night to Remember" at 7 p.m. Thursday at Kepler Theater on the campus of Hagerstown Community College. The concert benefits the family of Josh Forsythe, a 15-year-old student at Williamsport High School who has a rare form of cancer. Tickets cost $7 for adults, $5 for those older than 10 and free for those 10 and younger. HCC students will be admitted free.

andrear@herald-mail.com Darrell Kepler, an award-winning editor at The Herald-Mail, died at his Hagerstown home Saturday after a three-year battle with cancer. He was 53. "You couldn't not like Darrell," said his wife, Deb. "With Darrell, what you saw is what you got. He had a very refreshing, simple outlook on life that was grounded in the important things and was not cluttered with pettiness and things that don't matter in the end. " Kepler "asked very little of life," Deb said.

Jessica is 6 years old and her prognosis so far is good. Brandon is 10 and his is questionable. Timmy was 2 1/2 and he didn't make it. Cancer rears its ugly head among children. Holly Sweeney is Jessica's mom. On Saturday, she held another fundraiser for Timmy's Fund, this time hoping to raise $10,000 at a rock, paper and scissors competition at the Extreme Sportsplex in the Berkeley Plaza Shopping Center. Timmy's Fund was started by Timmy Quigley's dad, Joe Quigley. The money it raises goes to West Virginia families who have a child with cancer.

Patty Austin, left, and Gwen Austin share a laugh Tuesday with their mother-in-law and cancer survivor, Glenda Austin, right, at a Celebration of Life Survivors' Party at Fountain Head Country Club in Hagerstown.

Hundreds of people outlasted a lightning storm Friday night for a chance to take on one of the nation's top killers - cancer. A soaking rain forced Relay for Life participants to huddle in their vehicles at Hagerstown's Fairgrounds Park for at least an hour. But when the storm let up, volunteers and participants emerged and began catching up on the many hours of activities that lay ahead. Relay for Life, held in communities around the world, is an overnight walk to raise money for cancer research.

Cancer has claimed the life of Jimmy, a 6-year-old bloodhound who has been Maryland State Police Cpl. Doug Lowry's companion since he was a pup. "I was at a seminar last week when my wife called and told me I'd better get home right away," Lowry said Tuesday. When he saw Jimmy, he knew he had to make a hard decision and put Jimmy to sleep. "Jimmy just wasn't Jimmy anymore," said Lowry, noting that the cancer had spread quickly through his heart and lungs. Last summer, Lowry and Jimmy hiked North Carolina's Nantahala National Forest, working on the FBI manhunt for fugitive Eric Robert Rudolph.

Joe Hartt spent 13 years of his life flying missionaries and supplies in and out of the jungles of Zaire as a bush pilot. On Saturday, Hartt, 58, of State Line, Pa., stayed in touch with his interest in aircraft on the decidedly tamer landscape of a field off Old Forge Road in Hagerstown. The Pegasus Radio Control Airplane Club hosted a show there to benefit the John R. Marsh Cancer Center. Hartt said that, ironically, he first became familiar with radio control - or RC - aircraft while in Zaire, which is now the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The American Cancer Society Relay for Life held over the weekend in Berkeley County, W.Va., continued its tradition of youth involvement. All the Berkeley County schools participated in some way, and many were represented during the actual event, which started at noon Saturday and ended at 6 a.m. Sunday, according to Kim Dellinger, one of the co-chairs. This year's Berkeley County Relay for Life raised $231,000 toward its $270,000 goal. Fundraising continues through Aug. 31. “We want to fight this,” Dellinger said, adding that money raised supports cancer research.

Douglas Davis said he didn't used to wear suntan lotion or a hat when on the job finding underground utilities for Miss Utility. “I do now,” said the one-year cancer survivor, who had stage-four melanoma, a type of skin cancer. Davis attended Sunday's Celebration of Life picnic, an event for cancer survivors at The Improved Order of Red Men Tribe 84 grounds along Lappans Road. Approximately 1,300 people attended the picnic, which was sponsored by Meritus Health and the John R. Marsh Cancer Center, said Andrea Garnand, event coordinator and a technical supervisor at the cancer center.

The McDonald's restaurants in Williamsport and Spring Mills, W.Va., hosted the 16th annual BCA-CV Challenge Golf Tournament on May 20 at Waynesboro (Pa.) Country Club. The event helps raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness-Cumberland Valley, an organization that offers free support for breast-cancer patients in all phases, including diagnosis, treatment, recovery and metastases. This year, 88 players participated in the tournament and raised more than $33,000. One of the prizes in the tournament was a new $40,000 car for anyone who could hit a hole-in-one on the 10th hole at Waynesboro Country Club.

Haven Lutheran Church and the American Cancer Society are fighting back against cancer by hosting enrollment at the church for a new research study titled Cancer Prevention Study-3. Area residents can help researchers better understand the genetic, environmental and life-style factors that cause or prevent cancer. If you are willing to make a long-term commitment to the study, which involves completing periodic follow-up surveys at home, are between 30 and 65 years old, and have never been diagnosed with cancer (not including skin cancer)

Franklin County (Pa.) Commissioner Robert L. Thomas, who has been a commissioner since 1995, announced Friday that he will be able to continue serving in the post even as he undergoes treatment for the blood and bone marrow disease myelodysplastic syndrome. Thomas, 58, made the announcement Friday in the commissioners meeting room, in the presence of his wife, Sherryl, daughters Bobbie and Kelly, other family members, friends and fellow Commissioners David Keller and Robert Ziobrowski.

Dr. Erik Hurst will offer free skin cancer screenings from 9 to noon Saturday, May 25,in the Dorothy McCormack Center on the City Hospital campus. Registration is required and is limited to 75. To register or for more information, call 304-264-1232.

The sixth annual Bark for Life of Washington County raised more than $2,200 to help fight cancer, said Cathy Beckley-Thomas, the American Cancer Society's community manager for Washington County. Beckley-Thomas said 48 dogs were registered, which is a record for the local event. In addition to walking a lap around Fairgrounds Park, participants could compete in several contests, including ones for best-dressed dog and best trick.

The red, white and blue color scheme newly representing the Hagerstown Suns gave way to a deep shade of purple Friday at Municipal Stadium, where cancer survivors sporting the color took a celebratory lap around the bases before the game. The minor league baseball team hosted the American Cancer Society Relay for Life to honor area cancer survivors at their home game against the Hickory Crawdads. Melissa Wheatcraft, 58, of Hagerstown, was diagnosed with lung cancer, unrelated to tobacco, in June 2011.  About a year ago, doctors told Wheatcraft her cancer was terminal.

Seeking 500 Washington County enrollees to participate in a 20- to 30-year study aimed at finding cancer cures, the American Cancer Society on Thursday hosted an enrollment kick off with the plan to start collecting information and local blood samples in July. The national cancer prevention study, called CPS-3, looks to gain information on genetics, lifestyle and environmental factors that cause cancer by studying a sample constituting a diverse population of 300,000 Americans, according to Cathy Beckley-Thomas, Community Manager of the American Cancer Society's South Atlantic Division.