The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) announced today that the premiere LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit will take place Aug. 24-26, 2009 in Dublin, Ireland immediately following LAF founder and chairman, cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong's participation in the Tour of Ireland, Aug. 19-23. As the landmark event of the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Campaign, the Summit will make the case for acting urgently to address the global cancer burden and introduce new commitments to cancer control by bringing together world leaders, corporations, non-governmental organizations and advocates in an unprecedented show of solidarity.
The first day of the summit will include The Clinic, a roundtable discussion headed up by LIVESTRONG advisor and CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta. The Clinic can be watched by live webcast on CNN.com Sunday at 11am (EST).
"Unless we act on a global level, cancer will be the leading cause of death by 2010," said Armstrong. "Our goal is to be the catalyst that brings everyone together to fight cancer—from survivors, like me, to world leaders and policymakers who must commit completely to the effort to avoid a public health catastrophe. The Summit provides an invaluable opportunity to stand up for the 28 million cancer survivors worldwide and to create a unified effort to control cancer through new commitments to action."
In a separate announcement in Dublin, Ireland's Minister for Health, Mary Harney said Ireland was very pleased to welcome the Summit to Dublin in August. "Cancer Control is a top priority for the Irish Government. The themes of the Summit fit well with our new national Cancer Control Strategy and anti-tobacco initiatives we have taken, such as the ban on smoking in the workplace. We wish the Summit and the Lance Armstrong Foundation every success and we will be happy to welcome all international delegates to Ireland."
Irish Cancer Society CEO John McCormack said, "We still have a lot to do in the fight against cancer. By 2020, it is estimated there will be more than 40,000 new cases of cancer diagnosed in Ireland. We can and must act to reduce the rate of preventable cancer and this summit gives us the opportunity to increase cancer awareness and take actions which will save lives."
Darach McQuaid, Project Director for the Tour of Ireland, said, "The global sports icon that is Lance Armstrong last raced in Ireland in the Tour of Ireland in 1992. This August 19-23 the Tour of Ireland could not be more proud than to have Lance Armstrong riding once again on Irish roads in the lead up to his Global Cancer Summit in Dublin. The massive, positive public reaction to his comeback to the sport in Australia in January and California in February indicate that by the time Lance arrives in Ireland next August, the interest levels will be at fever pitch. I am confident that we can provide Lance with a challenging course and via our global broadcast, promote his cancer message in over 140 television markets around the world."
Already, world leaders are indicating their intent to send high-level representation and make commitments. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and former U.S. President Bill Clinton are included in the early list of leaders expressing support. The LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Campaign made immediate progress when it launched in Australia this January with several new commitments to cancer control from the Australian government and NGOs. In addition, conversations are ongoing with the Kingdom of Jordan to announce a substantial new commitment in that country. These commitments and others will be featured at the Summit in Dublin.
"I hope a decade from now we can look back on this campaign and see that there truly is a global cancer movement – one that has adequately funded cancer research, cut the death rate to zero and maximized the amount of prevention and education and advocacy that can be done," said Clinton. "And that it has helped people to live with and overcome cancer with the support they need."
Former "Survivor" winner Jenna Morasca recently wrote a blog discussing the effects of living through her mother's 12-year battle with cancer, and how the experience has helped her cope with longtime boyfriend and former "Survivor" winner Ethan Zohn's Stage 2 Hodgkin's disease diagnosis.
As part of a series detailing her life as Zohn's caregiver, Morasca writes about how her mother's cancer caused her to make different decisions, and changed her outlook on life. Her mother was diagnosed when Morasca was in middle school. At the time, she didn't really understand how serious her mother's disease was.
"Cancer did not equal death to me at that young age, I just thought my mother was sick and she would get better like she always does," she wrote.
Through middle school and high school her mother went to the hospital for tests and chemo, had good and bad days, while Morasca's life was more or less unaffected. She said that she felt the true impact of her mother's diagnosis when she went to college.
"While other college freshman where moving into their dorms, excited about starting a new part of life I decided to live at home so I was there to help my mom and not miss a precious moment ... while other freshman attended parties after class and in the evenings, I went home to be with my mom."
Even going on "Survivor" was inspired by her mother because it was her favorite show. Morasca said bringing her mother to New York City on Mother's Day to see her win the show is a memory she will cherish forever.
Morasca was invited back for the "Survivor: All Stars" show, but left early to be with her mother, who passed seven days after her arrival. Her battle with cancer lasted 12 years.
She said it was hard for her to watch her mother suffer, especially during the last days of her life. But the experience of dealing with the disease left an indelible imprint in her mind, and gave her the strength to support Zohn throughout his battle.
She wrote that cancer will be an ever-present force for the rest of her life, and that she will worry about Zohn's cancer recurring, "whether he is two months cancer-free or 20 years cancer-free."
"Cancer embeds itself into the fabric of your life and you just have to find a way to work around it," she wrote.
Morasca said she can feel her mother supporting and loving her as she deals with cancer for the second time in her life, and that knowledge give her the power to carry on.
You can read Morasca's blog post in full
here. For more facts on cancer, visit the LIVESTRONG.com topic page
here.
--By Charity Scott
A study performed by international cancer experts has found that tanning beds cause cancer in humans. Ultraviolet radiation emitted by the tanning beds have been added to Group 1, reserved for the most dangerous cancer-causing materials. Cigarettes have also been put in this level in the carcinogenicity classification.
An analysis of roughly 20 studies found that the risk of the skin cancer cutaneous melanoma is increased by 75 percent when tanning beds are used before the age of 30. The study also noted evidence of an increase risk in ocular melanoma—skin cancer found on the eye— associated with tanning bed use.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer experts published the results online by The Lancet Oncology, a research journal. The IARC is a part of the World Health Organization, and these results reinforce current WHO recommendations to avoids tanning beds, sunlamps and excessive sun exposure.
One of IARC's experts told the Associated Press that people need to be reminded of the risks that tanning beds pose.
"We hope the prevailing culture will change so teens don't think they need to use sunbeds to get a tan," he said.
Older studies had found that those using tanning beds regularly are eight times more likely to get melanoma that people who never use them. The American Cancer Society has been encouraging people to try self-tanning creams or bronzers instead of tanning beds.
CNN.com reported that United Kingdom's Sunbed Association has come out against the results, saying that a link between using sunbeds and cancer has not been proven.
"The relationship between UV exposure and an increased risk of developing skin cancer is only likely to arise where over-exposure and burning in particular has taken place."
Skin cancer is the world's most common cancer. More than a million new cases are reported in the United States each year.
Resources
For more information on Skin Cancer, go to the Livestrong topic page
here.
--By Charity Scott
