Nighttown to Host 'Cocktails for a Cure' Event to Support Cancer Research

University Hospitals doctors will play celebrity bartender for a night in support of cancer clinical research trials.

Nighttown will host "Cocktails for a Cure" from 7 to 11 p.m. Oct. 18. Proceeds raised will go toward cancer clinical research trials that are not tied to one specific cancer type at UH Seidman Cancer Center, spokeswoman Jennifer Guerrieri said.

The event costs $100 per ticket for open bar & appetizer selection. It also includes a silent auction and live entertainment. Tickets and more information are available here.

The event hits home particularly hard for Susan Swiger, one of the event committee's members. Swiger was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010, one day before giving birth to her daughter. Swiger underwent chemotherapy, radiation and a lumpectomy but also participated in a clinical research trial.

According to UH, the study evaluated if an oral medication known as Neratinib is effective in preventing future breast cancer recurrence. The medication targets human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). Normally, HER2 receptors help control how a healthy breast cell grows, divides, and repairs itself. However, the HER2 gene doesn't work correctly in about 25 percent of breast cancers and makes too many copies of itself, causing breast cells to grow and divide in an uncontrollable way.

“I think about my daughter, and I think about the future,” Swiger said in a statement from UH. “If (a clinical research trial) is something that can help me or give others more information then that’s what’s important.”