Synthesis a Publication of UC Davis Cancer Center

Their mission: Making a difference
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Demas thought the worst was over. Then two more malignant bumps appeared on her calf.

The five-year survival rate for melanoma drops dramatically once it has spread to a distant site, as it had in Demas' case.

Demas and Goodnight sat down to discuss alternatives, including having her leg amputated - although even that wouldn't guarantee a cure, since it takes only one errant cell to escape and metastasize. Goodnight recalled a clinical trial he had participated in as a resident surgeon. It was a type of biology therapy in which live tuberculin virus is injected into tumor sites and into lymphatic regions under the arms and in the hips. The virus boosts the patient's immune system so that it can attack the cancer cells, and the tumors self-destruct.

For two years, Demas went to the UC Davis Cancer Center for weekly treatments.

Slowly, the tumors melted away. In 1995, she heard words she had been longing to hear: "I think we're ready to stop treatment now." It's been three years since her last therapy and five years since her last occurrence of melanoma. Demas is officially in remission.

During her battle with cancer, Demas held a high-level job managing investment portfolios for retail clients at Wells Fargo Bank. She was even promoted to assistant vice president during her illness. But her brush with death had changed her.

"Once you find out there's a possibility that you might die from cancer, you wonder what would people will remember you for," Demas explains. "I enjoyed my job, but it didn't give me enough of a chance to really make a difference in the world."

Demas had also remarried since her treatment, and with the encouragement of her new spouse, retired from banking and joined the Executive Board of Advisers. When the Regional Development Leaders group was formed, she jumped at the chance to join.

"I was given the opportunity to do something I had always wanted to do: give something back."

Not everyone needs to have survived cancer to know its devastating impact. Esther Armstrong was in the doctor's office when her aging mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer. She's seen her sister and several in-laws battle the disease.

Armstrong, like Demas, had a very successful career. Before retiring in 1993, Armstrong - a long-time associate with the California fair industry - managed the El Dorado County Fair and the National Orange Show in San Bernardino. She also served as assistant director of the California Department of Food and Agriculture, overseeing the state's 81 fairs. A past member of the Board of Directors of the Western Fairs Association, she was named to the association's Hall of Fame in 1989, is a past president of the International Association of Governmental Fair Agencies, and served on the Board of Directors of the International Association of Fairs and Expositions.

Helping to raise awareness of the need for cancer research is a form of enlightened self-interest, she says.

"As the population gets older, the numbers of Americans who get cancer will also grow," says Armstrong. "If you want to join the fight against cancer and you want advances in prevention and cures, then you need to go to where the source is - where the research is."

Under Armstrong and Demas' leadership, the volunteers of the Regional Development Leaders have made great strides. They've published a quarterly newsletter on cancer events, recruited docents for a patient resource center, and met with volunteer fund-raisers at Mercy Hospital and Health Services in Merced. The UC Davis Cancer Center has affiliated with Mercy Hospital and Health Services and the Fremont-Rideout Health Group in Yuba City/Marysville and will develop other community hospital affiliations to build a network of regional cancer centers.

The group is also planning a major gala in November to raise money for cancer research.

"Everybody thinks there is plenty of money for cancer research, but when you get involved, you see how little the government is spending on it, especially when you consider how many people are affected by cancer," says Armstrong.

The Regional Development Leaders are looking for a few good volunteers. If you'd like to make a difference, call (916) 734-9617.