“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
— Rachel Carson
The City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center recently dedicated their new gardens to a patient and cancer survivor Ted Schwartz, in gratitude for his family’s amazing gift of support for immunotherapy development. Ted Schwartz, having undergone treatment for lymphoma for 16 years, has a personal understanding of the need for outdoor spaces that can sooth the soul, and provide a reprieve from the rigors of cancer treatment.
In keeping with their knowledge that fighting cancer and supporting healing requires an integrated approach, the new gardens were designed to offer patients and their families a place of beauty and peace. Cultures around the world understand the relationship of spirit to physical health, and the important role nature plays in healing the spirit. Being outdoors can help ease depression, provide perspective and delight the soul, and the new gardens have been designed to provide a variety of spaces for patients and their families including a wide variety of plants and trees, water features, nooks for sitting, and paths for walking.
“Natures peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you..while cares will drop away from you…John Muir
The Ted Schwartz Family Hope and Healing Park will honor Ted whose cancer was finally vanquished through the innovative Car-T cell therapy program at the City of Hope. Car-T cell therapy uses the patient’s own T cells and genetically modifies them, to fight their cancer often providing a lasting remission for some types of advanced cancer. Ted just celebrated (actually 3/11/25) his fifth anniversary having been cured.
Over many years of fighting lymphoma, Ted Schwartz and his physician, Steve Rosen, MD, City of Hope Provost, and Chief Scientific Officer, became close, like brothers.
After going through so much treatment, in the midst of receiving Car-T therapy, Ted told Dr. Rosen, “If I get through this, I’m going to come back here, and we are going to do something really special that is going to help a lot of people.”
The “really special something” was a 20-million-dollar donation to help support current immunotherapy initiatives and to provide funds for further research.
While Car-T therapy began as a therapy for ALL in children, it has been used in lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and other blood cancers. It is now being studied for some brain tumors, solid tumors, and autoimmune diseases.
Patient Worthy was privileged to speak to Dr. Rosen along with Dr. Robyn Stacy-Humphries, a physician and a recipient of CAR-T therapy in a clinical trial for her own advanced lymphoma. CAR- T was life saving for both Ted Schwartz and Dr. Stacy -Humphries, but challenges remain to discover the best induction agents, and the optimum approaches to increase efficacy and decrease side effects. Dr. Robyn Stacy Humphries runs a Facebook group for those considering or undergoing CAR-T therapy to share their questions and to describe their experiences. From this group of patients, in the arena, patterns are emerging that may be helpful to other patients and to researchers. The enormously generous gift from the Ted Schwartz family will lead to discoveries for expanding the safety and efficacy of immunotherapy treatments that impact not only survival rates, but quality of life for patients after treatment.
According to the medical center the “City of Hope has treated 1700+ IEC patients with 60% receiving commercial FDA approved products and 40% research IEC Products from 60+ research protocols. COH has treated over 300 patients each year in the last 2 years.”
The financial support provided by the Ted Schwartz family will ensure continued growth and progress in this exciting area while the Ted Schwartz Family Hope and Healing Garden will be a balm to all the patients, staff and families at the City of Hope.
Source: City of Hope
Blood Cancers cancer CAR T-cell therapy City of Hope Hope Garden Ted Schwartz The City of Hope Comprehensive Cancer Center
Last modified: March 13, 2025
