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Channeling “Luck”
October 2007When Terry Dickson and his partner at Accudata Systems were brainstorming about how to celebrate their Houston company’s 25th anniversary, they quickly settled on a fundraising party to benefit
M. D. Anderson. “Our executive team shares a common interest in cancer research,” says Dickson, who credits the institution for his status as a survivor of gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). Co-founder Rich Johnson and Vice President Patrick Vardeman have family members who are battling prostate and colon cancer respectively, and the $54,000 raised at Accudata’s Sept. 15, 2007 anniversary event is being shared by researchers investigating new treatments for all three diseases.
Dickson was diagnosed in 2005, following surgery to correct what was initially thought to be diverticulitis, a common digestive disorder. “Fortunately, the surgeon recognized that it was a tumor and knew what kind it was,” says Dickson, who recalls being puzzled that his doctors referred to the discovery as “luck.” But he soon understood that GIST, a very rare type of sarcoma that strikes only about 5,000 Americans annually, can be easily missed. And, in another show of good fortune, he learned that the world’s foremost authority on the disease—Jonathan Trent, M.D.—was right here in Houston at M. D. Anderson, home to one of the nation’s few dedicated sarcoma centers. “I spoke to other oncologists but when I asked how many GIST patients they had treated in the last year, their answer was two or three,” says Dickson. “Dr. Trent sees hundreds every year at M. D. Anderson. To me, that meant all the difference in the world.”
Dickson bowed to luck again when he learned that a cancer drug called Gleevec, originally developed to treat certain leukemias, had recently been approved as a treatment for GIST. “This disease doesn’t respond to traditional chemotherapy and radiation and before Gleevec, there was no treatment for it,” he says, adding that the drug has few side effects. “My quality of life while on Gleevec was really good.”
A grateful Dickson praises Dr. Trent for an “outstanding job” and salutes industry partners, employees, clients and friends for the success of the anniversary fund-raiser. “It was wonderful how many people responded,” he says. “Cancer touches almost everyone, and our clients have had spouses or friends who have been treated for the disease. They really appreciated being part of this event, and everyone felt so good about it that we have talked about doing it again.”