Walk of Hope raises needed research funds
KITCHENER — Trista Di Lullo was young and healthy when a cyst was discovered on her ovary during a routine checkup.
“I had no symptoms at all. I was feeling really good,” said the Cambridge woman, 32.
Surgery to remove the fastgrowing mass went well, but then weeks later Di Lullo was shocked by the news it was cancer.
“Honestly, that floored me,” she said.
Even though the ovarian cancer was caught early, she still needed chemotherapy and a full hysterectomy to hopefully prevent the return of the aggressive and rare form.
Di Lullo is back at work after finishing treatment in December, but the experience was life-changing and now she’s focused on doing what she can to raise awareness about ovarian cancer along with money for research.
She knew little about ovarian cancer before her diagnosis, and feels like it’s been “lost in the shuffle” with little progress in treatment.
“It’s time that things change,” Di Lullo said.
That’s why she’ll be joining the Ovarian Cancer Canada Walk of Hope on Sept. 10. There are two local walks that morning; in Kitchener at Victoria Park and in Guelph at Centennial Park.
Di Lullo and her team walked in Kitchener last year, after her first chemotherapy session and on her first wedding anniversary.
This year she plans to join the Guelph walk, co-organized by University of Guelph biomedical sciences researcher Jim Petrik.
“This is a disease that desperately needs better treatments and the only way to do that is facilitating more research,” Petrik said.
He’s been researching ovarian cancer for 15 years, working in collaboration with others to develop novel therapies to treat advanced cases. Typically, ovarian cancer is diagnosed in advanced stages because there are no clear symptoms and no screening test.
“The unfortunate reality is the treatment approach hasn’t changed really in the last four decades,” Petrik said.
“And there hasn’t been significant improvements in outcomes.”
Treatment is normally surgery to remove the tumour and chemotherapy. Often chemotherapy will go well at first, but then the cancer becomes resistant.
The five-year survival rate is only 20 to 25 per cent.
An estimated 2,800 Canadian women will be diagnosed this year with ovarian cancer, the fifth most common cancer for women and the most serious.
“It’s a disease that has a lot of challenges,” Petrik said.
One potential therapy will hopefully go to clinical trials in the next year or two.
More money for research is crucial to developing new treatments, but Petrik said ovarian cancer is less known, and less funded, than other types of cancer such as breast and prostate.
Significant advances have been made for both those cancer types and Petrik hopes the same will happen with ovarian cancer with enough support.
“We’re really reliant on the funding,” Petrik said.
Petrik got involved with the Guelph walk, held for the first time in the city last year, to increase awareness and raise funds for research. He’s also inspired by the survivors he meets through his research.
“These women are so strong,” Petrik said. “I get a huge amount of motivation to continue to do what we’re doing to find something that will help them out better.”
Find out more about the walk or donate at ovariancancerwalkofhope.ca.