Alliance Participates in White House Cancer Moonshot Forum
Alliance Joins Screening & Prevention Panel to Advocate for Colorectal Cancer Funding & Innovations in Screening, Prevention and Treatments
The White House Cancer Moonshot Colorectal Cancer Forum convenes today, during National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, to discuss the importance of colorectal cancer screening, prevention, and treatment, as a significant part of the Biden administration’s plan to reduce cancer death rates by half in the next 25 years. Representatives of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance (Alliance), the leading nonprofit colorectal cancer patient advocacy group, join the forum to advocate for increased funding, research, and resources to help end colorectal cancer, the second deadliest cancer of men and women in the U.S.
Since the launch of the Cancer Moonshot initiative in 2016, the cancer community has made measurable progress toward three ambitious goals: to accelerate scientific discovery in cancer, foster greater collaboration, and improve the sharing of cancer data. Today’s Forum, focused specifically on colorectal cancer, provides an opportunity to highlight the significant impact that increased screening and prevention could have on reducing colorectal cancer deaths.
Colorectal cancer is currently the deadliest cancer of men under 50, and the second deadliest cancer of men and women combined in the U.S. With cases rising in people younger than 50, it’s estimated to be the deadliest cancer among 20-49 year olds by 2030. Despite this data, the disease is less known and less funded than other cancers, even though it is highly preventable when caught early. The largest and most impactful nonprofit organization, the Colorectal Cancer Alliance, hopes to bring greater awareness and funding to the disease to help put an end to it.
“Colorectal cancer is the preventable cancer, yet it is still the second deadliest cancer in the U.S., “ says Michael Sapienza, CEO, Colorectal Cancer Alliance. “With better access to timely screenings, and more research, education and funding, it is possible to end this disease in our lifetime.”
The White House Cancer Moonshot Colorectal Cancer Forum will take place from 3:00-5:30 p.m., and will include panels on important topics related to colorectal cancer such as screening and prevention, disparities, treatment, innovation and support. Opening speakers at the Forum include artist Simone Ledward Boseman, who lost her husband, actor Chadwick Boseman to colorectal cancer, and Craig Melvin, NBC and MSNBC news anchor, who lost his brother to the disease. Melvin is also a board member of the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.
Alliance CEO, Michael Sapienza, will participate in the Colorectal Screening and Prevention Panel to emphasize that colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable cancers with timely screening. Other Alliance partners and advisors attending the Forum include BLKHTH Co-Founder and President, Matthew McCurdy, Alliance Medical Scientific Advisory Committee members, Dr. John Marshall and Dr. Nilo Azad, and Alliance Board Chair, Lee Dranikoff.
About The Colorectal Cancer Alliance
The Colorectal Cancer Alliance is a national nonprofit committed to ending colorectal cancer. Working with our nation of passionate allies, we diligently support the needs of patients and families, caregivers, and survivors; eagerly raise awareness of preventive screening; and continually strive to fund critical research. As allies in the struggle, we are fiercely determined to end colorectal cancer within our lifetime. For more information, visit colorectalcancer.org.
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