FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 21, 2025
Contact: Andi Last
President, Living LFS, Inc.
March 2025 is the fifth annual Li-Fraumeni Syndrome Awareness Month. On Li-Fraumeni Syndrome Awareness Day, March 20th, non-profit patient support organization Living LFS, Inc. will once again award hardship grants to eligible families and individuals struggling to make ends meet.
People with Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) have a 70% to nearly 100% lifetime risk of developing cancer due to a rare, inherited alteration of the TP53 tumor suppressor gene, known as “the guardian of the genome.”
Multiple family members with LFS may experience cancer simultaneously - and that gets very expensive.
“One of our grant applicants is a single Mom dealing with her third cancer. Since the age of one, her 15 year old daughter has experienced brain cancer, bone cancer, kidney cancer, a bone cancer recurrence that required her arm to be amputated, and now she has a recurrence in her lung,” says Living LFS president, Andi Last. “Mom and daughter are both in treatment, Mom can't work much, she's behind on household bills.
“Imagine having to choose between paying monthly bills or managing cancer. These families desperately need our help," Last says.
Since establishing the LFS Hardship Grants program in 2021, Living LFS has connected families and individuals with nearly $200,000 in hardship grants to help defray these steep costs. Through March 6th, 2025, an anonymous donor will match donations earmarked for LFS Hardship Grants, up to $40,000.
At a virtual LFS Awareness Day event on March 20th, activities will include an introduction to Mindful Self-Compassion to help manage life with LFS and cancer, an info session on one-on-one patient support, an informative Q&A with a genetic counselor, and a birthday tribute to Living LFS founder and passionate patient advocate Jennifer Mallory (March 20, 1976 - October 5, 2020).
Members of the public are encouraged to attend. Email hello@livinglfs.org for the link to register. To learn more about Li-Fraumeni syndrome, and to double your impact of your donations through March 6, please visit LFSawareness.com
