Cancer Research And Prevention Foundation Educates And Celebrates With National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month(TM)

Main Category: Colorectal Cancer
Also Included In: Cancer / Oncology;  Public Health
Article Date: 07 Mar 2007 - 0:00 PDT

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The number of Americans who died of colorectal cancer dropped significantly for a second straight year, marking a milestone in prevention. One thousand, one hundred and ten fewer men and 1,094 fewer women died from this preventable disease, however, more than 148,000 men and women will be diagnosed with the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Of those, more than 55,000 will die from the disease, which is preventable, treatable and beatable if diagnosed in its earliest most curable stages. March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month(TM) (NCRCAM) and the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation (CRPF) in collaboration with partner organizations nationwide are determined to improve these alarming statistics.

"Although much progress has been made in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer," says Carolyn Aldige, president and founder of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, "much more work needs to be done. We believe that education is the first step toward action, and this nationwide campaign will educate Americans about the importance of regular screening and, if they are diagnosed, treatment options."

Since 2000, CRPF has included a variety of educational opportunities and initiatives to get the world out about the importance of colorectal health and screening during National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month. These include:

-- This March, the Super Colon, an 8-foot tall, 20-foot long inflatable, interactive replica of a human colon embarks on a thirty city tour to help teach people about the risks, symptoms, prevention and treatment options for colorectal cancer.

-- Another highly successful, annual CRPF initiative, the national Dialogue for Action(TM) conference convenes leaders in colorectal cancer prevention. This year's meeting, Innovations for Prevention: A Dialogue for Action to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening, will take place in Baltimore, MD from March 21-23 and will address public and private sector approaches to strengthening prevention and early detection efforts.

-- The CRPF's Buddy Bracelet, a bracelet that reminds those who wear it to get screened for colorectal cancer, has been distributed to over 500,000 people. After the person is screened, they pass the bracelet on to a family member, friend or colleague to encourage them to talk with a health care professional about colorectal cancer. The bracelet is then passed along from that person to another person and so on, creating a chain reaction that could save thousands of lives and reinforces NCRCAM's motto "Colorectal Cancer: Preventable, Treatable, Beatable." TM

About National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month

National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is made possible by presenting sponsor sanofi-aventis; premier benefactors Amgen and Bristol-Myers Squibb; and major benefactor Roche. The Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation together with its founding partners the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, Foundation for Digestive Health and Nutrition and the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable, joined forces to designate March as National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month in 2000. The goals of this initiative are to generate widespread awareness about colorectal cancer and to encourage people to learn more about prevention of the disease through regular screening and a healthy lifestyle. For more information about colorectal cancer or National Cancer Awareness Month, please visit http://www.preventcancer.org/colorectal.

About the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation

The Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation was started in 1985 when Founder and President Carolyn Aldige first understood the power of prevention to defeat cancer -- and recognized that too few of the country's resources were used to promote cancer prevention research or education. Today, it is one of the nation's leading health organizations and has catapulted cancer prevention to prominence. Since its inception the Foundation has provided more than $88 million in support of cancer prevention and early detection research and education programs. CRPF peer-reviewed grants have been awarded to more than 250 scientists from more than 150 of the leading academic medical centers nationwide. This research has been pivotal in developing a body of knowledge that is the basis for important cancer prevention and early detection strategies. For more information, please visit http://www.preventcancer.org/.

Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation
http://www.preventcancer.org/

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