Amgen $250,000 grant to lymphoma foundation is part of corporate program to fund support groups.

AMGEN $250,000 GRANT TO LYMPHOMA RESEARCH FOUNDATION OF AMERICA will support development of lymphoma patient education and support groups. The Amgen grant will fund two specific projects for the Lymphoma Research Foundation: the publication of reference and educational materials for lymphoma patients, families and health professionals; and the development and subsequent testing of a patient support group program.

The rights to this support group model, which will be tested among lymphoma patients in three cities, will be retained by Amgen for later use among patients with other types of cancer. Both projects are being developed by McCarthy Medical Marketing of Vancouver, Wash. and its non-profit affiliate the Innovative Medical Education Consortium.

This recent grant represents part of an organized effort by Amgen to support various cancer patient groups. The program is under the auspices of the company's Neupogen marketing department. Neupogen, a granulocyte colony stimulating factor used primarily to combat the effects of chemotherapy, is Amgen's top-selling product.

Amgen funds about a dozen cancer patient organizations yearly, the company said. Amgen works with existing patient groups like the lymphoma foundation and also helps to set up its own groups. For example, during the development of Neupogen for severe chronic neutropenia, Amgen funded the formation of the National Neutropenia Network ("The Pink Sheet" Jan. 2, T&G-6).

The Lymphoma Research Foundation of America, Inc. was created in 1992 by Ellen Cohen, an independent producer of television commercials who was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in 1989. In the past, 85% of the Los Angeles-based foundation's budget has been devoted to funding research, with the remainder of its resources used for administration of support programs, including local support groups for lymphoma patients and their families. The foundation says it was the success of these support groups that attracted Amgen's interest and support.

McCarthy Medical Marketing was founded by President Peggy McCarthy in 1987. An immunologist by training, McCarthy worked as a research technician for the Scripps Clinic and as a clinical research associate and sales training specialist for Burroughs-Wellcome before entering the publishing and educational media industry.

McCarthy Medical Marketing and IMEC specialize in the production of oncology educational materials, often with the support of the pharmaceutical and health-care industries. Past examples include funding from Wellcome for the Communicating About Cancer series of publications and grants from Bristol-Myers and Wellcome to support development of the Alliance for Lung Cancer Advocacy, Support and Education.

Both the Lymphoma Research Foundation and McCarthy Medical Marketing contend that support groups can have therapeutic benefits for cancer patients. As an influence, both organizations cite the work of Stanford psychiatrist David Spiegel, MD, who argued that terminal cancer patients can increase their life expectancy and improve their quality of life through regular participation in support groups.