CUMBERLAND — “Sarcoma knows no borders” and that is evident as riders from the United States and nine other countries gathered Saturday in preparation for the 2009 Team Sarcoma Bike Tour, starting in Cumberland and traveling the 184.5-mile ride to Washington.

Javier Sanchez was one of the many international bike riders who came to participate in the event. Coming from Madrid, Spain, he is a Sarcoma patient and the new president of La Asociacion Espanola de Afectados por Sarcoma.

“I am a Sarcoma patient and, for me, it was important to participate in this event to meet people and others with organizations associated with Sarcoma,” Sanchez said. “I am doing this bike ride with my family because it doesn’t just affect me but them as well. It is a problem in all our lives.”

German Delarosa of Mexico City also traveled to Cumberland to ride the trail.

“I was diagnosed with Sarcoma in my right leg when I was 14,” the now 27-year-old survivor said. “I came here because it was a new experience for me to learn and meet people from all over the world with Sarcoma.”

Delarosa also works as a volunteer with children diagnosed with cancers and will be able to share his experience with his organization and the children he helps.

“I want to be able to share the information and stories I hear here with others,” he said. “I want to tell them it is possible to be a cancer survivor if you really want it. I want to be able to help them with their questions and doubts and make the experience a little easier.”

And, with the collaboration of Gail Hall, owner of Mountainside Bike Tours, and Shane Strieby of Adventure Sports and Freedom Trail Riders, participants from Canada, Denmark, Poland, Italy, New Zealand, Hungary and Lithuania will be able to participate in the event.

But Cumberland isn’t the only area holding an event during Sarcoma Awareness Week, which is July 18 to 26. This year 14 countries, 26 states and the District of Columbia have organized events to help increase awareness of the rare and deadly cancer.

Bruce and Beverly Shriver, event coordinators for Team Sarcoma and founders of the Liddy Shriver Sarcoma Initiative, said the initiative’s goal is to have over 10,000 people participate in the events worldwide and help increase awareness and raise funds for research for the disease.

“This is a rare cancer and therefore grossly underfunded. We call Sarcoma the ‘forgotten’ cancer because everyone knows about breast, lung and prostate cancer because those are much more common,” Bruce Shriver said. “We also say ‘Sarcoma knows no boundaries,’ because it’s a cancer that does not discriminate by gender, race or any particular area of the body.”

The Shriver’s daughter, Liddy, was diagnosed with Sarcoma and passed away in January 2004.

“When our daughter was going through treatment, there had been little done in research of the cancer and she never once met another Sarcoma patient or survivor,” Beverly Shriver said. “So we wanted to do something that would help other Sarcoma patients and help fund research.”

And right before Liddy’s 37th birthday, Nov. 12, 2003, the Shrivers founded the initiative. And though Liddy was only involved with the effort for a few short months, she helped launch the program.

“Our mission is to improve the quality of life for people dealing with sarcoma. The initiative increases public awareness of sarcoma, raises funds to award research grants, and provides support and timely information to sarcoma patients, their families and medical professionals. These efforts are achieved through collaboration with numerous individuals and organizations that share a similar vision,” Bruce Shriver said. “It’s important to get the word out there because, unless people are aware of the disease, they’re not going to understand the need to help.”

The initiative is exclusively run by volunteers and donates 97 to 98 percent of every dollar they receive to research.

Sarcoma is a cancer of the connective tissues, such as nerves, muscles and bones. It can arise anywhere in the body and is frequently hidden deep in the limbs. Sarcoma accounts for 15 to 20 percent of childhood cancer diagnoses and about 1 percent of adult cancer diagnoses. They are often misdiagnoses and many sarcoma conditions resist current treatments.

For more information about the disease or to learn how to get involved, visit the Libby Shriver Sarcoma Initiative Web site at www.sarcomahelp.org.

Contact Tess Hill at thill@times-news.com.