PHILADELPHIA, PA - The University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center today announced receiving a two-year $500,000 grant from the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF). The grant will be used to develop a new model of care for long-term survivors of cancer.
The goal of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center survivorship program, called Living Well After Cancer, is to help reduce the physical and emotional impact of cancer and its treatment on survivors and to help survivors find ways to maximize their quality of life. The program will integrate clinical care, research and education in an innovative approach to meeting the needs of the growing population of cancer survivors.
"Thanks to major treatment advances, more cancer patients are surviving than ever before," explained John H. Glick, MD, director of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. "The funds awarded by the Lance Armstrong Foundation will enable us to establish a cancer survivorship program that will serve as a model for the nation."
The LAF shares the Cancer Center's vision. "The mission of the Lance Armstrong Foundation is to help people manage and survive cancer," said Howard Chalmers, president and CEO of the Lance Armstrong Foundation. "Our goals are to reduce the presence of cancer on this planet, continue to define, refine and improve cancer survivor services and facilitate the delivery of those services - along with a large dose of hope - to patients and their families and loved ones." Since its inception, the LAF has approved more than $2.5 million in grants.
Living Well After Cancer will focus initially on programs for survivors of breast cancer and testicular cancer, two types of cancer that have high rates of survival.
"Breast cancer survivors are the largest component of the cancer survivorship community," said breast medical oncologist Angela DeMichele, MD, who will direct the clinical and research aspects of Living Well After Cancer's breast cancer component.
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Contact: Olivia Fermano
olivia.fermano@uphs.upenn.edu
215-349-5653
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
2-Apr-2001