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Colorado
Hepatitis C Support Groups
For individuals infected with hepatitis C and family members affected by hepatitis C. Free and confidential. New members always welcome.
Metro-Denver
Aurora - 900 Potomac, 1st Floor Staff Cafeteria ~ 1st Tues. ~ 6:30-8 p.m. ~ Consuelo (303) 367-2813
Englewood - 1000 Englewood Parkway ~ 4th Tues. ~ 7-8:30 p.m. Jena` (303) 239-0336
Lakewood - 11500 W. 20th ~ 2nd Tues. ~ 6:30-8 p.m.
Betsy (303) 237-1150
HIV/HCV Co-Infection - 1660 S. Albion ~ 3rd Tues. 5:30-7:00 p.m. Kim (303) 862-0407
VA (VA Patients Only) - 1055 Clermont, Room 2E-104 ~ 2nd Wed. 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Jena` (303) 239-0336
Cap Hill- 3250 E. 6th Ave. 1st & 3rd Wed. 6:30-8 p.m.
Deidrea (720) 917-3973
Statewide
Boulder - People's Clinic 2nd floor 3303 N. Broadway 2nd Wed 6:00 - 7:30p.m. Carrie (303) 678-6157
CO Springs - 825 E. Pikes Peak, 5th Floor Dining Room ~ 3rd Thurs. ~ 7-8:30 p.m. ~ David (719) 236-1416
Fort Collins - 2809 E. Harmony, 3rd Floor ~ Last Wed. ~ 6:30-8 p.m. ~ Jerry (970) 214-2912
Grand Junction - 510 29˝ Road, Room 1060 ~ 1st Wed. ~ 5:15-6:45 p.m. Rainy (970) 241-6023
Pueblo - Crossroads 509 East 13th Street , Last Mon. 5:00 - 6:30 p.m.
Rhonda (719) 546-6666 ext. 136
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Greetings!
Welcome to the November edition of Hep C Connection's e-newsletter!
In this month's edition, Hep C Connection spotlights our annual fundraising event Desserts & Delights Thursday, November 13th. The evening promises to be filled with great entertainment, delicious and decadent treats, mingling and enjoying our live and silent auction with a professional auctioneer. Please come and join us!
We want to hear from you! To comment or contribute interesting news and information about hepatitis, please send us a note at info@hepc-connection.org. The deadline for news postings is November 17th.
Please share our newsletter with others by simply forwarding it to others, or by using the forwarding option at the bottom. Thank you! |
| Desserts & Delights - November 13 |
 This year's event will be bigger and better than ever! Desserts & Delights will be held on Thursday, November 13 from 5:30 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. in the Colorado Convention Center, in downtown Denver. Parking in the convention center garage is included in the price of tickets when they are purchased in advance. Tickets are $45 and, in addition to parking, include one complimentary drink. Entertainment will be by Grammy award-winning band Dotsero, a local favorite. We'll have scrumptious appetizers and many amazing silent and live auction items, including a guitar signed by Crosby Stills and Nash. Sounds like fun, doesn't it? And, to top it off, we are honoring the Liver Transplant Center at the University of Colorado Denver Health Centers. This is the nationally recognized program that has aided many Hep C Connection volunteers and clients when they have had few remaining options. Join us at this important event, help raise funds for Hep C Connection, and pay your respects to one of the most amazing liver transplant programs in the country.
For further details and to RSVP, please call Amy Burkholder, Administrative Assistant, at (720) 917-3963.
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| Volunteer Update |
The Hep C Connection Volunteer Department is currently looking for HelpLine and Outreach volunteers. These positions are a great way to give back to the community while educating and supporting those who are impacted by hepatitis C. Both opportunities provide flexible hours and free training. Please consider supporting our efforts through volunteerism. If you are interested, please call Kara Armstrong, HelpLine and Volunteer Coordinator, at (720) 917-3972.
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| Amy Burkholder - A New Face at Hep C Connection |
Hello everyone, please allow me to introduce myself! My name is Amy Burkholder and I am the new administrative assistant with Hep C Connection. I am originally from San Antonio, TX but have lived in Denver since 1998.
My diverse background began with the US Army serving 4 years active and 4 inactive. My duty stations included Hanau, Germany, Ft. Bragg, North Carolina and Taszar, Hungary for the Bosnian Operation. My dedication to country is something I am very proud of along with the knowledge gained from those experiences. After the military I began my career as an executive assistant assisting high level executives on day to day office and event management. After spending 6+ years in this role, I sought to further my event management experience and serve as a marketing director and manager at one of the oldest nightclubs in Denver. I also spent many years volunteering as an events manager for a local Denver organization. In addition to these qualifications, I will complete my Bachelors in Business Management from the University of Phoenix in November. One day I hope to utilize my experiences and education to manage my own business or non-profit agency.
Throughout my career path, I have always sought something that truly contributed to the community in a positive way or made a positive difference, which drew me to Hep C Connection. I admire the work of community organizers and the dedication it takes to serve those who are in need. I am extremely excited and eager to be at Hep C Connection and provide my experience and skills and most importantly, grow with this organization. |
| Doctors & Science |
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Sustained Virological Response to Pegylated Interferon plus Ribavirin for Chronic Hepatitis C Does Not Always Prevent Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Over years or decades, people with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection may develop advanced liver disease, including severe cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC).
Individuals who achieve a sustained virological response (SVR) to treatment with interferon-based therapy, or continued undetectable HCV RNA 6 months after completion of treatment, are widely considered to be cured. This occurs in approximately 50%-75% of patients treated with pegylated interferon (Pegasys or PegIntron) plus ribavirin, with higher response rates for genotypes 2 or 3 compared with 1 or 4. Long-term follow-up studies have shown that the overwhelming majority of such patients maintain HCV suppression.
Several studies have indicated that people who respond to treatment reduce their risk of liver fibrosis progressing to cirrhosis or HCC. In fact, some data suggest that even therapy that does not completely and permanently clear HCV may still reduce the risk of disease progression -- although the recent HALT-C trial of pegylated interferon maintenance therapy demonstrated minimal benefit.
But a small proportion of patients who achieve SVR may nevertheless develop liver cancer, according to a report in the September 2008 Journal of Viral Hepatitis.
Peter Ferenci and colleagues described 5 patients -- 3 from Austria, 2 from the U.S. -- who developed hepatocellular carcinoma during 3-6 years of follow-up after achieving SVR. All remained HCV RNA negative during follow-up and at the time of HCC diagnosis. Three patients did not have cirrhosis, either at the start of treatment or at the time of liver cancer diagnosis. None had any other type of liver diseases besides hepatitis C. One patient presented with bilateral adrenal metastasis, while the remaining 4 had large liver tumors.
"Successful antiviral treatment in HCV patients does not prevent development of hepatocellular carcinoma even in non-cirrhotic livers," the investigators concluded. "Long-term follow up of patients with SVR is mandatory and should include surveillance for hepatocellular carcinoma."
Department of Internal Medicine III, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria ; 2 Division of Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA ; and 3 Department of Clinical Pathology, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
10/10/08
Reference
TM Scherzer, KR Reddy, F Wrba, and others. Hepatocellular carcinoma in long-term sustained virological responders following antiviral combination therapy for chronic hepatitis C. Journal of Viral Hepatitis 15(9): 659-665. (Abstract).
Stay tuned to Hep C Connection's December e-newsletter to learn about updates regarding treatment of hepatocellular Carcinoma.
Article written by Liz Highleyman
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| Doctors & Science ll |
Data to be Presented in Late-Breaking Poster at AASLD Annual Meeting LOUISVILLE, Colo., Oct. 28, 2008 - GlobeImmune Inc. today announced that four-week data from the on- going Phase 2 clinical trial for GI-5005, the Company's therapeutic vaccine candidate for hepatitis C, will be highlighted in the president's press conference at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease (AASLD) in San Francisco. At 4 p.m. PDT on Nov. 1, AASLD President Arthur J. McCullough, M.D. will highlight data for the benefit of the media from 20 abstracts, including GlobeImmune's, in advance of the actual presentations in scientific sessions. The individual studies to be highlighted were selected from the nearly 1,600 abstracts that researchers in the field of liver disease will present at the meeting. As previously announced, the interim data from GlobeImmune's Phase 2 clinical trial will be presented by John G. McHutchison, M.D., of Duke University, lead author of the study, in a late-breaking poster session beginning at 8 a.m. PST on Nov. 3, 2008. The analysis will include rapid virologic response (RVR) rates and viral kinetic analysis for patients who have completed the first four weeks of GI- 5005 in combination with standard of care (SOC) versus SOC alone. GlobeImmune's GI-5005 is a targeted molecular immunogen (Tarmogens®) designed to elicit a HCV- specific T-cell response. Tarmogens are whole, heat- killed recombinant S. cerevisiae yeast that express antigens from one or more disease-related proteins. About GlobeImmune - GlobeImmune Inc. is a private company developing targeted molecular immunogens, Tarmogens®, for the treatment of cancer and infectious diseases. The company's lead product candidate, GI-5005, is a Tarmogen for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C infection. GI-5005 is designed to complement both the current standard of care and emerging novel therapies for HCV. The company's lead oncology program, GI-4000, targets mutated versions of the Ras oncoprotein for the treatment of pancreas cancer as well as other cancers that contain mutated Ras, including non-small cell lung cancer and colorectal cancer. For additional information, please visit the company's Web site at www.globeimmune.com. |
| A Personal Story |
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A wise old man once said "Disease is what you have and illness is how you react to it."Most patients share their experiences after they have had successful outcomes; I would like to share mine as I traverse this journey with the hope that I might inspire a few of us who are finding it tough to cope with situations or are losing the will to fight. I hope my story touches a chord or two and provides emotional support and encouragement.
I do not know the outcome of this long, arduous, test of endurance and spiritual strength; but what I do know is that after three and a half years of being on therapy for HCV (3 attempts, having taken 190 shots of pegylated interferon, consumed thousands of ribavirin tablets and undergone a heart bypass surgery during this period) I have the "motivation to fight" with the hope that I have a chance of getting cured.
Prior to my diagnosis with HCV in March of 2005 I was a happy, active 45-year old man. I worked hard and played hard - my hours were always filled with various activities. I was motivated, outgoing and well-adjusted. It seemed that I "had it together."
In 1989, at age 30, I had been diagnosed with heart disease and underwent a successful "quadruple" heart bypass surgery. This is when I contracted the HCV virus as I was given blood transfusion during heart surgery. The HCV was discovered in March 2005. This meant that I was HCV+ for almost 16 years prior to being diagnosed.
My body had begun manifesting trademark side effects prior to discovery. Ultimately, these side effects became so overbearing that it dawned on me that something was radically wrong. I started losing energy; I felt nauseated and fatigued all the time; I was not sleeping well. My liver enzymes turned out to be very high (ALT 160, AST 105) and a PCR revealed that I was HCV positive. Moreover, I was Genotype 1 (the one difficult to treat) with a very high viral load of 2.7 million copies per ml. My liver biopsy experience was horrible; the doctor who performed the biopsy was not skilled with the needle and I had to be poked five times, which was very uncomfortable. When the results came they showed that my liver had been extensively damaged and I had fibrosis stage III (bridging fibrosis), a stage prior to liver cirrhosis. With all odds against me, it was a foregone conclusion that I should start HCV treatment.
To read Sanjiv's experiences attempting treatment, his inspiring details and what he learned, click here. |
| Desserts & Delights Sponsors |
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Desserts & Delights could not do it without the generous support and financial sponsorships that was provided to make this annual event prosperous.
The Desserts & Delights planning committee recognizes the following donors. Thank you for your support!
In-kind
Platinum Sponsor Level
Silver Sponsor Level
Investment Realty
Bronze Level
JFM Consulting
Karen and Ed Rosenthal
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