About Us

My name is JuliAnne Scully and I am a 39 year Ovarian Cancer Survivor, and founder of Ride for Hope. On my 25th year of being cancer free, I decided to purchase my first bike and the rest is history! Read more about our first Ride for Hope event in 2015 here.

Ride for Hope is about raising funds to help spread awareness for ovarian cancer and to help women battling ovarian cancer with financial hardships. Our mission is to spread awareness of this silent disease, the symptoms, and help ease some of the financial burden women and families need while on this devastating journey

During our first Ride For Hope in 2015, with the help of our sponsors, contributors, 45 volunteers, 98 motorcyclists, and 200 party goers, we raised and donated $25,600 to the NOCC in efforts to help support ovarian cancer awareness and research. We are the largest 3rd party 501 (C) 3 donation across the US to ever donate to the NOCC (National Ovarian Cancer Coalition). Because of our work in 2015, we now have a new partnership with the NOCC, and JuliAnne attended their 2016 national conference in Baltimore on February 26-28th.  To date, Ride for Hope has donated $100,000 to the National Ovarian Cancer Coalition.

We are also looking for volunteers to help with biker events, media, registration, donations, & sponsors.

Please email us at ocrideforhope2015@gmail.com and tell us how you can get involved!

What are some statistics?

2020 ESTIMATES

• About 21,750 women will receive a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

• About 13,940 women will die from ovarian cancer.

GENERAL

• Ovarian Cancer ranks 5th in cancer deaths among women

• Ovarian cancer rates are highest in women aged 55-64

• The median age at which women are diagnosed is 63

• Only 15% of cases are diagnosed at stage 1

• Accounts for 2.4% of all cancer-deaths and 1.3% of new cases

• 5-year survival rate is 44.6%

What are the early warning signs of ovarian cancer?

• Vaginal bleeding or discharge from your vagina that is not normal for you. • Pain in the pelvic or abdominal area (the area below your stomach and between your hip bones).

• Back pain.

• Bloating.

• Feeling full quickly while eating.

• A change in your bathroom habits, such as having to pass urine very badly or very often, constipation, or diarrhea.

What are the risk factors?

Scientists continue to study the genes responsible for familial ovarian cancer. This research is beginning to yield clues abotu how these genes normally work and how disrupting their action can lead to. cancer. This information eventually is expected to lead to new drugs for preventing and treating familial ovarian cancer.

Research in this area has already led to better ways to detect high-risk genes and assess a woman’s ovarian cancer risk. A better understanding of how genetic and hormonal factors (such as oral contraceptive use) interact may also lead to better ways to prevent ovarian cancer.

Prevention

New information about how much BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations increase ovarian cancer risk is helping women make practical decisions about prevention. For example, mathematical models have been developed that help estimate how many years of life an average woman with a BRCA mutation might gain by having both ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to prevent a cancer from developing. Studies have shown that fallopian tube cancers develop in women with BRCA gene mutations more often than doctors had previously suspected. However, it is important to remember that although doctors can predict the average outcome of a group of manyw omen, it is still impossible to accurately predict the outcome for any individual woman.

Studies suggest that many primary peritoneal cancers and some ovarian cancers (such as high-grade seous carcinomas) actually start in teh fallopian tubes. According to this theory, the early changes of these cancers can start in the fallopian tubes. Cells from these very early fallopian tube cancers can become detached and then stick to the surface of the peritoneum or the ovaries. For reasons that are still not understood, these cancer cells may grow more rapidly in their new locations.

This theory has important implications for preventing ovarian cancer because having the ovaries removed early can cause problems from lack of estrogen, such as bone loss, cardiovascular disease, and menopause symptoms. Some experts have suggested recently that some women who are concerned about their ovarian cancer risk (especially those with a strong family history and/or BRCA gene mutations) consider having just their fallopian tubes removced first. They then can have thier ovaries removed when they are older. This approach lets women keep their ovaries functioning for longer, but because of that, it might not help brease cancer risk as much. This is an active area of research.

Other studies are testing new drugs for ovarian cancer risk reduction.

Researchers are constantly looking for clues such as lifestyle, diet, and medicines that may alter the risk of ovarian cancer.