After a rare brain cancer upended his life, Richmond resident raises money to fight it

There were no symptoms. There was no warning.

On March 10, 2021, Stanley Currier had just settled onto the couch in his Washington, D.C., home when a seizure struck. Currier was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he suffered a second seizure.

He woke up 12 hours later to learn that doctors had discovered he had a brain tumor. He was eventually diagnosed with oligodendroglioma, a relatively rare brain cancer that usually strikes people from about age 18 to those in their 40s.

“It was extremely shocking. It came out of nowhere,” Currier, who is 49,  told Richmondside.

Currier had surgery three weeks later to remove most of the tumor and received chemotherapy and radiation treatments. He now takes medication and has brain scans several times a year. He also leads a healthy life that includes a vegan diet and regular yoga sessions.

He and his doctors at UC San Francisco are in a “watch-and-wait” mode when it comes to what remains of the tumor.

Currier, though, is not simply waiting around when it comes to helping fund research for the potential deadly disease.

A South San Francisco native who moved to the Marina Bay neighborhood in Richmond with his husband, Baur, in October of 2021, Currier is active with Oligo Nation, a national nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for oligodendroglioma.

He partnered with Oligo Nation to hold a virtual fundraiser in fall of 2021. That was followed by a 5K walk/run fundraiser in South San Francisco in 2022, and then a fundraising walk/run in 2023 in Richmond.

This year, they have returned to the Richmond shoreline to host another event to raise money for Oligo Nation programs.

The Fast Track to a Cure 5K run/walk will be held along the Bay Trail on Sat., Sept.  21 at 8:30 a.m. The route starts and finishes at Lucretia Edwards Shoreline Park, 1500 Marina Way South.

Currier walks the courses during these 5K events, stopping along the way to talk with participants.

Bernadette Gates, Currier’s sister, who also lives in the Marina Bay neighborhood, said they are busy signing up participants for the event but are also looking for volunteers to help make sure the event goes smoothly and is fun.

There will be music and food, as a giveaway with prizes donated by local businesses and others such as Chipotle, the American Conservatory Theatre, Gaia Yoga and Verve Coffee.

Currier said the main purpose of the event is to raise money for Oligo Nation, but he is also on a mission to destigmatize brain cancer. He writes the Brain Tumor Blog that details his experience over the past three years and provides information on brain cancer.

Oligodendroglioma accounts for about 3% of all brain cancers. It can take the form of a slow-growing grade II tumor or a faster growing and more deadly anaplastic grade III tumor. Currier was diagnosed with a grade III version of the disease, the more serious of the two grades of oligodendroglioma..

The cause of oligodendroglioma is unknown, but there are treatments available. Currier takes an anti-seizure medication with the scientific name levetiracetam, a drug originally designed to treat epilepsy.

And Oligo Nation, for example, worked with a drug company to recruit patients for clinical trials, ultimately helping to speed up the FDA approval process, according to Brock Greene, the founder of Oligo Nation.

A disease that strikes at prime of life

Greene said the need to fund research is critical.

The Bay Area native whose sons were diagnosed with oligodendroglioma at ages 17 and 21, notes that oligodendroglioma is a primary brain cancer, which means it starts in the brain as opposed to migrating from another part of the body. Among these types of brain tumors, oligodendroglioma is the third most common.

Research is currently underway to determine if there is a genetic component to oligodendroglioma. 

“One of the unique and terrible things about Oligo is that most people are diagnosed with this disease between the ages of 18 and 40 years of age — the prime of life,” Greene told Richmondside.

He said research is helping to develop treatments such as immunotherapies and new approaches to drug delivery. But, he said, more needs to be done.

“Medical research is enormously expensive and advocacy can only get you so far,” Greene said. “Last year, Oligo Nation invested $1.4 million in research and effectively all these funds come from our community and the people that support them at events like the one in Richmond.”

Currier hopes the upcoming 5K can help, not only for himself but for other families.

“[The fundraiser] has grown from an effort that just our family put on the first two years, to involve other Bay Area families last year and this year as well,” he said. 

His sister feels the need to support work that could benefit her brother’s medical care.

“I need to be able to give back and to pay it forward,” said Gates, a physical therapist and health program manager.

For now, Currier is enjoying his life. He works from home for an international development and education organization. He spends time with his sister in Richmond as well as his older sister, Monyca, who lives in Vallejo, and his parents, who live in Rio Vista.

Currier says he loves living in Richmond. In particular, he enjoys the Bayview Farmers Market, the beauty of the Bay Trail and the culinary diversity of Point Richmond.

“There is a lot one can do for one’s well-being,” he said.