In Memoriam
Anne Friedman Glauber
1953 – 2017
Anne Friedman Glauber, 63, co-founder of Let’s Win, an online community for persons affected by pancreatic cancer, recently passed away at her home in New York City, after a courageous battle with the disease. Ms. Glauber’s dedication to the organization (www.letswinpc.org) helped countless individuals live longer and better with this challenging malignancy. Ms. Glauber’s pledge was that no patient with pancreatic cancer should settle on standard-of-care treatments without seeking potentially better solutions, as she did.
In 2014, Ms. Glauber was diagnosed with stage IV disease and was referred to Allyson Ocean, MD, a gastrointestinal oncologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Medical Center and Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. “Anne, who was a public relations executive, was initially told she didn’t have much time and should ‘get her affairs in order,’” Dr. Ocean said. “She said, ‘No, I won’t listen to this. I will seek out more information and more options.’ Her entire cancer journey was essentially a science experiment!”
Ms. Glauber became one of the first patients to have an organoid created of her tumor, the results of a collaboration between Dr. Ocean and researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Researchers tested thousands of compounds against the tumor and found it exquisitely sensitive to chemotherapy, as well as a drug not even used in cancer—disulfiram, indicated for the treatment of chronic alcoholism. Treated with combination chemotherapy guided by this highly personalized approach, she lived almost 3 years with metastatic disease.
She was also a widely published writer, appearing in USA Today, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Huffington Post. In 2014, she wrote a book about her mother, Pauly Friedman, called “Advice for a Happy Life: Lessons from My Mother.”
Tribute by Colleague
“She was a truly incredible person,” said Let’s Win Founding Executive Director Cindy Gavin. “Instead of letting a devastating diagnosis of stage IV pancreatic cancer and only 6 months to live stop her, Anne took this disease on in a way that only she could. She devised a plan and tapped into a variety of resources, which resulted in her living a longer, fuller life while creating Let’s Win along the way.”
“Anne wanted more than anything to know that everyone affected by this devastating disease would have a resource to guide them during their own personal battle. She would say that she won and wants all pancreatic cancer patients to do the same,” she commented. “We at Let’s Win are deeply saddened and will work to ensure her legacy and carry on Let’s Win’s mission.”
Ms. Glauber is survived by her partner, David Cummins; her children Lili and David; her father Sydney; her brother Rob; and her nieces, Diane and Haley. ■
