The 14th annual Halloween Bash was held on Saturday, October 20th in Pleasanton, California. The first Halloween Bash was held as a celebration of the successful brain surgery of Camille Thoms, daughter of Varsity Painting owner Roland Thoms. Camille had recently been diagnosed with neurofibromatosis type 2 (NF2), a condition that causes benign tumors to grow on the nerve endings throughout her body. The Varsity team of friends, employees, and customers have worked together over the years to raise more than $650,000 for much needed research into treatments to suppress the tumor growth of those living with NF. This year the fun-filled event raised over $47,000 for the Children’s Tumor Foundation, then the Thoms family made a $100,000 contribution, which was then matched by an anonymous donor, raising a total of $247,000!
And that research is paying off! Thanks to the support of the Halloween Bash and events like this, the CTF has successfully accelerated drug discovery. CTF’s team science collaborations are building a path to effective treatments and delivering data that is freely and openly shared with the greater research community.
Additionally, a clinical trial for the MEK inhibitor selumetinib has resulted in over 70% of NF1 patients seeing tumor shrinkage from 20-53%. At the most recent NF Conference, data was presented that shows promising evidence that the drug may be effective in shrinking the tumors of NF2 patients as well.
This is a time of great optimism for NF treatments—tumors are shrinking in clinical trials, and we are closer than ever to the first FDA-approved drug for NF!
Thank you to Roland and Nicole Thoms, his entire family, and the attendees and supporters of the annual Halloween Bash. This fun-filled event is making a difference for the future of NF treatments.
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Next year’s bash will be on October 19, 2019. Photos of the 2018 Bash can be sent at https://www.varsitypainting.com/halloween-bash-gallery/.
