from 8/31/2014
Standing Up To Cancer: Farrah Fawcett's Dream Continues
Actress Alana Stewart, as President of The Farrah Fawcett Foundation, is part of an ongoing mission—a mission to bring awareness and importance of continuing her late friend’s fight against cancer.
Last month marked the fifth year since Farrah lost her battle with anal cancer at the age of 62.
According to Stewart, Fawcett, who was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, sought to develop the foundation immediately after her diagnosis. In 2007, the foundation was formally established and then opened officially after Fawcett’s death in 2009.
Fawcett’s ultimate goal, Stewart explained, “was to fund cutting edge research, especially in areas of cancer that weren’t very much researched, such as anal cancer.”
Stewart further explains that Fawcett wanted to help fund prevention programs and bring awareness to people to have regular testing for various types of cancers related to STIs (sexually transmitted infections). Stewart relates that the delay in Fawcett receiving her first colonoscopy may have resulted in her being diagnosed with stage 4 anal cancer.
Although Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer, she apparently was never diagnosed with HPV, according to Stewart. While the initial plan of Fawcett’s foundation was to focus on anal cancer, the decision was made to expand the foundation’s focus to include HPV-associated cancers since these contribute to the majority of all persons diagnosed with anal cancer, according to Stewart.
The importance of vaccination to help prevent subsequent cancer stemming from the HPV virus has thus been an important and ongoing initiative of Fawcett’s foundation.
“I’m so grateful to Michael Douglas for having spoken out about it [HPV], because that is what it really takes for people to be aware,” explained Stewart.
“If you know that there is a vaccine that you can give a young teenager that will prevent them from getting HPV and possibly cancer–that could save millions of lives,” added Stewart.
The Unspoken Cancers
According to the CDC, high-risk human papilloma viruses (Types 16, 18) are responsible for the majority of anal cancers (the cancer that took Farrah’s life) and cervical cancers, as well as many vaginal, vulvar, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers.
In the US, over half of all new cases of oropharyngeal cancer are associated with HPV-16, with the incidence of HPV associated oral cancer increasing more sharply in men compared to women over the past 20 years. In fact, estimates are that HPV will be the cause of more cases of orophayngeal cancer than cervical cancer by 2020. Consistent and proper use of condoms has been shown to reduce the risk of transmission of HPV between sexual partners.
The Farrah Fawcett Foundation, which funds cutting edge research in memory of Farrah’s life, also provides patient assistance funds for those faced with mounting expenses during treatment along with special prevention programs.
This past spring, in fact, The Farrah Fawcett Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer joined together to commit $1 million dollars over three years to fund a collaborative translational research team to study HPV-related cancers.
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a grassroots movement developing unique collaborative teams of researchers from multiple well known medical institutions, and a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), had three successful fundraising telecasts in 2008, 2010 and 2012.
SU2C will return to primetime television live on September 5th from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles at 8 PM EST as the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS CBS +1.34% and FOX) and major cable stations donate one hour of broadcasting time to raise funds.
Original Article; http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2014/08/31/standing-up-to-cancer-farrah-fawcetts-dream-continues/
Visit The Farrah Fawcett foundation at http://www.thefarrahfawcettfoundation.org
Last month marked the fifth year since Farrah lost her battle with anal cancer at the age of 62.
According to Stewart, Fawcett, who was diagnosed with anal cancer in 2006, sought to develop the foundation immediately after her diagnosis. In 2007, the foundation was formally established and then opened officially after Fawcett’s death in 2009.
Fawcett’s ultimate goal, Stewart explained, “was to fund cutting edge research, especially in areas of cancer that weren’t very much researched, such as anal cancer.”
Although Fawcett was diagnosed with anal cancer, she apparently was never diagnosed with HPV, according to Stewart. While the initial plan of Fawcett’s foundation was to focus on anal cancer, the decision was made to expand the foundation’s focus to include HPV-associated cancers since these contribute to the majority of all persons diagnosed with anal cancer, according to Stewart.
The importance of vaccination to help prevent subsequent cancer stemming from the HPV virus has thus been an important and ongoing initiative of Fawcett’s foundation.
“I’m so grateful to Michael Douglas for having spoken out about it [HPV], because that is what it really takes for people to be aware,” explained Stewart.
“If you know that there is a vaccine that you can give a young teenager that will prevent them from getting HPV and possibly cancer–that could save millions of lives,” added Stewart.
The Unspoken Cancers
According to the CDC, high-risk human papilloma viruses (Types 16, 18) are responsible for the majority of anal cancers (the cancer that took Farrah’s life) and cervical cancers, as well as many vaginal, vulvar, penile, and oropharyngeal cancers.
In the US, over half of all new cases of oropharyngeal cancer are associated with HPV-16, with the incidence of HPV associated oral cancer increasing more sharply in men compared to women over the past 20 years. In fact, estimates are that HPV will be the cause of more cases of orophayngeal cancer than cervical cancer by 2020. Consistent and proper use of condoms has been shown to reduce the risk of transmission of HPV between sexual partners.
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| George Hamilton and Alana Stewart |
This past spring, in fact, The Farrah Fawcett Foundation and Stand Up To Cancer joined together to commit $1 million dollars over three years to fund a collaborative translational research team to study HPV-related cancers.
Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), a grassroots movement developing unique collaborative teams of researchers from multiple well known medical institutions, and a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), had three successful fundraising telecasts in 2008, 2010 and 2012.
SU2C will return to primetime television live on September 5th from the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles at 8 PM EST as the major networks (ABC, NBC, CBS CBS +1.34% and FOX) and major cable stations donate one hour of broadcasting time to raise funds.
Original Article; http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertglatter/2014/08/31/standing-up-to-cancer-farrah-fawcetts-dream-continues/
Visit The Farrah Fawcett foundation at http://www.thefarrahfawcettfoundation.org
