TRANSFORMATIVE
PHILANTHROPY HAR OL D BR OWN H O P E S H I S GI F T W I L L HELP UNLO CK CANCER’ S MY ST ERIES. BY LAUREL DIGANGI
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hen Harold Brown was diagnosed with melanoma—the most dangerous form of skin cancer—he sought care at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint John’s Health Center from Steven J. O’Day, MD, executive director of the institute and one of the preeminent melanoma specialists in the world. This wasn’t Brown’s first experience with cancer. Four years ago, he was treated for colon cancer, which included surgical removal of part of his colon and chemotherapy, which carried severe side effects. But for treatment of Brown’s melanoma, Dr. O’Day recommended immunotherapy, which utilizes the body’s natural immune system to fight the disease. Along the way, Brown learned a lot about cancer treatment from Dr. O’Day. He was so satisfied with his treatment and outcome that he decided to give back—in a big way—by making an $8 million donation to the institute to establish the Rosalie and Harold Rae Brown Cancer Immunotherapy Research Program. His gift is unprecedented, as it is the largest single gift donated to the JWCI in its history. “Mr. Brown is a quiet, humble man who has experienced firsthand the revolution of immunotherapy and benefits to the patient,” says Dr. O’Day, who is also director of Providence Los Angeles Regional Research and director of clinical research at the JWCI. “He’s had a three- or four-year survival rate with metastatic cancer, and he wanted to
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SAINT JOHN'S MAGAZINE
give back. This will be a big, impactful gift to the institute and will have a huge effect on everything we do.” Brown says he wanted to make a gift that would help people with cancer because of his own experience being a cancer patient. “I wanted to do something about cancer. “I’ve had a lot of cancer myself and obviously we need a cure,” says Brown, 90, who funded and named the program in honor of his parents who, he says, loved and supported him unconditionally. His father died of colon cancer at age 61. Brown says he appreciated having immunotherapy as a treatment option. “Compared to the chemotherapy I went through, immunotherapy was better. I feel good, and my worst response to it is itching.” Immunotherapy is not without side effects— including flu-like symptoms and itching—but for many patients they are not as dramatic. “Patients on immunotherapy generally can live their life more normally than patients on chemotherapy,” says Dr. O’Day.
