Imagine being told you have a 34 percent chance of survival — just a one in three chance that your life won’t be cut short.

Those are the odds facing people diagnosed with myeloma, a type of blood cancer. Forty years ago, the chances of surviving myeloma were just 12 percent.

The bottom line? Ongoing research has led to treatments that mean a cancer diagnosis isn’t necessarily a death sentence. But the fight is far from over.

“We’ve seen survival rates double and triple in the last five years because of new therapies, new drugs, new protocols being tested through clinical trials,” said Anne Gillingham, executive director of the Seattle branch of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).

“The survival rate for myeloma has tripled, but it’s still only 35 percent. So much more work needs to be done.”

Funding that work is a key focus of LLS, which organizes the annual Leukemia Cup Regatta. The sailboat race will be held on Elliott Bay this Saturday, June 12, in conjunction with the inaugural AquaQuest, a scavenger hunt for powerboats on Lake Union, to be followed by a joint after-party and auction at the Seattle Waterfront Marriott Hotel.

The day is an important one for LLS, usually raising about $200,000 that helps pay for cancer research and services for patients and families.

But registration for the events is down about 25 percent this year, Gillingham said, even when factoring in the usual last-minute entries. She was at a loss to explain the low numbers, which as of yesterday included fewer than 60 boats registered for the two events, compared with 86 boats that participated last year.

“We’ve done a lot of marketing this year, so I’m a little surprised that registrations aren’t higher than they are. It’s sure not for a lack of trying.”

Gillingham acknowledged that the need to continue funding cancer research might be hard for people to understand if they haven’t been personally impacted by the disease. She thought the same way, she said, before she began working at LLS two years ago.

“I used to think, where is all this money going and are we really making any progress?” she said. “Sometimes it’s hard to see the difference that money is making.”

But statistics underscore that difference, as well as the ongoing need. Overall survival rates for leukemia, a cancer of the bone marrow and blood, have quadrupled over the last 48 years. And survival rates for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), the most common leukemia in children, are now almost 91 percent, compared with just 4 percent in 1960.

Still, a person is diagnosed with blood cancer every four minutes in the United States. Every 10 minutes, someone dies from a blood cancer.

If the numbers don’t compel participants, the prizes might. Leukemia Cup racers can win gift bags, an engine service worth $1,000 and three dives for cleaning, zincing and inspection. AquaQuest participants are eligible to win fuel cards, gift cards for West Marine and Duke’s Chowder House, and boating duffle bags filled with items.

There’s no obligation to raise funds, but those who do can earn clothes, iPod Nanos, a handheld VHF radio or GPS, or a Kindle reader. Regatta participants who raise $8,500 get to attend Fantasy Sail, a weekend of sailing with Hall-of-Famer and ESPN commentator Gary Jobson.

And both boaters and non-boaters can bid on after-party items including a Palm Springs getaway, a $1,200 Mexico travel voucher, $500 of boat fuel, a boat winterization package, sailing courses and other items.

LLS currently funds 10 cancer researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and another three at the University of Washington, under grants of varying lengths totaling $10 million. Nationally, LLS has given out more than $600 million in research funding since the organization was founded in 1949.

Additionally, LLS provides patient services including education programs, support groups, financial aid and a peer support program that matches cancer patients with others who have gone through treatment.

Gillingham hopes boaters will ultimately realize the value in supporting LLS’s efforts and come out for next weekend’s regatta, scavenger hunt and party, last minute or not.

“Everyone knows someone who’s had cancer, and a lot of people have lost someone to cancer,” she said. “But we don’t often enough hear what’s really happening and how much progress is really being made.”

For additional information about the Leukemia Cup Regatta and AquaQuest or to purchase tickets for the after-party and auction at the Seattle Marriott Waterfront Hotel, click here.

About Deborah Bach

Deborah Bach is the editor and co-founder of Three Sheets Northwest. She is an avid sailor and long-time professional journalist. You can find Deborah aboard Three Sheets, an Island Packet 38, with her husband Marty and their cat Lily.

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