Cells against cancer

In September 2005, Mark Pace was riding high from a successful sales negotiation for the granite countertop company where he worked, but when he tried to call his boss, none of the words would come out.

“In my mind I knew what I was thinking, but I wasn’t able to talk,” Pace said. “I just went home and kind of relaxed. Little did I know it was a petit mal seizure.”

That was the first sign of Pace’s brain cancer, which turned out to be stage 4 glioblastoma multiforme, an advanced, malignant tumor with a grim prognosis. Doctors told Pace he had a life expectancy of 12 to 16 months.

“I just went and bought a bunch of supplements and took them all,” he said. “I ended up puking my guts out the next day because I just overdid it and didn’t know what I was doing.”

But 2 1/2 years later, regular MRIs are finding no hints of cancer in Pace. And for the second year in a row, he’s going to walk on Saturday to raise money for the program that runs the experimental treatment he credits with saving his life.

Pace goes to the UCLA Medical Center, where an experimental vaccine turns his own immune system against cancer cells. And just as he did last year, Pace will walk to raise thousands of dollars for the university’s brain cancer research, known as one of the best departments in the nation.

“There’s really no funding at all from the government for this,” Pace said.

“When we raised around $130,000 on the last walk, [the program’s director] Dr. [Timothy] Cloughesy cried. This is very emotional for them.”

In the time since his diagnosis, Pace has gone through surgery, a month of radiation therapy, two years of chemotherapy, and six rounds of the vaccine.

Through that time, he’s done 100-mile bike rides and yoga, and gone to the gym, joined a brain cancer support group, gone camping regularly with his son on Boy Scouts trips and been active in First Christian Church.

“I think this disease or any type of disease makes you realize that every breath you take is valuable,” he said.

“The most important thing is your family and friends. Prior to this I was very active with work, but you realign your priorities big time.”

He’s also been able to watch the average life expectancy for his kind of cancer double in just a few years.

“I just found that out a few weeks ago,” he said.

“That’s kind of cool. The way I look at it is, if I can be used to further the cause, that’s what’s important. The longer you survive the longer you have a chance to find a cure.”

To sponsor Pace’s walk, go to giving.ucla.edu/ braincancerresearch. Make sure to put “Team Pace” in the tribute gift section.

Checks can also be sent payable to UCLA Foundation and sent to: Team Pace, 18352 Oxboro Lane, Huntington Beach, CA 92648.

MICHAEL ALEXANDER may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or at michael.alexander@latimes. com.