By JEN COWART

Ron Lizotte and Dianne Fonseca recently joined elected officials, local researchers and others dedicated to helping end cancer by advocating for the funding needed for cancer research in Rhode Island at the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s (ACS CAN) Inaugural Rhode Island Research Breakfast on Oct. 15.

ACS CAN is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society that supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health program and works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority, including advocating for strong federal funding for cancer research.

Lizotte, a Cranston resident, is a 15-year survivor of squamous cell carcinoma, known as the “smoker’s tumor,” although he has always been a non-smoker. His cancer is the result of second-hand smoke, with his father having been a chain smoker. Lizotte began his first chemotherapy treatment on Oct. 27, 1999.

Fonseca, a Cranston Public Schools teacher for 33 years, is a breast cancer survivor who was also diagnosed 15 years ago in June. Both are dedicated warriors in the fight for funding, research and education in the fight against cancer, which is the leading cause of disease death in Rhode Island.

According to ACS CAN, 6,370 people will be diagnosed in Rhode Island during the next year, and in fiscal year 2013 alone Rhode Island received $144,462,615 in funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including $8,536,735 from the National Cancer Institute.

“There are 273 current research projects in Rhode Island right now. Brown and URI are leading a lot of those projects,” Lizotte said. “We’re doing an awful lot in Rhode Island as a very small state.”

Fonseca agreed.

“The American Cancer Society is giving a lot of money to research, with Brown University at the forefront of a lot of this research, and we’d like to keep that funding here in our state, which was part of the reason the Research Breakfast was held,” she said. “This same breakfast has been held in other states for years, but this was Rhode Island’s first. We were also the first to include survivors at the breakfast.”

Fonseca, who describes herself as “one of the ones who raises the money,” believes that the funds she raises through her “Keeping the Pace with Dianne” team for the Making Strides Walk is helpful only if it can be put toward research focused on ending cancer.

“My team is and has been number one in Rhode Island for the past four or five years. However, in the nation it is among the top 20, ranked number one right now. We will reach over $40,000 by year’s end,” Fonseca said.

Both Lizotte and Fonseca spend many hours sharing their stories in the hopes of raising awareness.

“I work with the Reach to Recovery program, which connects survivors with those who are currently battling cancer,” Fonseca said. “We are seeing younger and younger incidents of people getting cancer, and Rhode Island has one of the highest percentages of women getting breast cancer. Eighty to 90 percent have no family history of cancer. I had no history in my family.”

Fonseca’s background as a foreign language teacher in Cranston has made her a sought-after resource because of her ability as a translator and her ability to speak to those whose first language is not English.

Both Lizotte and Fonseca look to share their cancer experiences with younger students as well, by going into schools to help raise awareness in youth.

“My point is to tell my story as a survivor about my treatment, my experience going through a cancer I didn’t deserve,” Lizotte said.

Lizotte’s treatment for the tumor found on the back of his tongue was very devastating, with long-lasting side effects. He endured six weeks of heavy-duty chemotherapy and radiation and years of recovery, which included intense weight loss, the use of a feeding tube and a great deal of facial scarring. Fonseca endured four sessions of chemotherapy and a mastectomy, but was able to continue to teach throughout her treatments.

“My principal was wonderful and he said that I could take the time that I needed, but I was able to work through my treatments,” Fonseca said.

Both Lizotte and Fonseca believe that funding and research, along with education and awareness, are key to helping to find a cure for cancer. They can see how things have changed in the time since their own diagnoses.

“Protocols have changed a lot just in the past 15 years. It used to be that mastectomy was the first answer with breast cancer. Now they work toward shrinking tumors first, versus operating right away,” Fonseca said. “Today, we don’t see as many mastectomies. Ultimately, though, it’s not about saving a breast, it’s about saving a life.”

Lizotte hopes that with the funding and research that is taking place, future generations will hear a different kind of news than he heard when he was diagnosed.

“Patients in the future will hear, ‘This is bad news, but not so bad,’” he said. “But that’s not happening yet, and a lot more people are getting cancer all the time.”

Lizotte’s wife is also a breast cancer survivor.

“We’re still spending money on cancer after the fact, when we should be spending the money on prevention,” he said.

Fonseca said she is often asked why, if people are donating so much and so often, there is not yet a cure.

“People are often commenting as to why no cure has been found yet with all the money that has been raised, but today we have a higher survivorship percentage due to all the funds raised for research and education on the disease. We are seeing success in fighting the fight to end cancer,” she said.

Lizotte and Fonseca continue their advocacy, sharing their stories and educating others. They encourage the public to do the same.

“The best thing people can do is lobby for us through their senators and legislators. Email your representatives, fight for the funding of research,” Fonseca said.