Legislators, Medical Experts, Advocates Launch Statewide Prostate Cancer Education and Awareness Program

BOSTON, March 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- AdMeTech Foundation today announced the launch of a statewide prostate cancer education and awareness campaign supported by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The program, the first of its type statewide, also has the support of legislative leaders and advocacy groups, including the Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition and Men of Color Health Awareness, a program of the YMCA of Greater Springfield.

The public launch of the program was announced at an annual prostate cancer awareness breakfast meeting organized by AdMeTech Foundation, a Boston non-profit bringing together legislators, advocates, and leading medical experts to make Massachusetts the national leader in ending the prostate cancer crisis through research, awareness, and education.

The statewide program's goal is to bring the cutting-edge advances in prostate cancer care and research from the world-leading hospitals to every man, his caregiver, and health care providers in Massachusetts.  The advanced approaches to screening, diagnosis and treatment are expected to save lives, improve quality of life, and reduce health care costs. The campaign will be focused on men at high risk of lethal prostate cancer, including individuals with African heritage, family history, and increasing age.

"I applaud Massachusetts legislators and the Department of Public Health for leading the nation in recognizing prostate cancer as a public health priority and creating this program," said Dr. Faina Shtern, President of AdMeTech Foundation. "While the current state of patient care is unacceptable and leads to numerous unnecessary and failed procedures, the recent advances in screening, diagnosis and treatment reflect a great message of hope. With a boost in awareness and education, we will offer this hope to countless men."

According to AdMeTech Foundation, prostate cancer is the most common major malignancy in the US and in Massachusetts, with 60 percent higher incidence and 250 percent higher mortality in African American men. Although prostate cancer is curable when detected early, it is expected to take the lives of over 600 Massachusetts men in 2015. In addition, about 2,000 men will have unnecessary treatment and over 20,000 men will have unnecessary biopsies, which cause complications and inflate health care costs. 

The speaking program at today's meeting featured House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who was honored at the event as a champion of prostate cancer awareness, education, and research.

"Prostate cancer continues to be one of the most common and lethal cancers affecting men," said Speaker DeLeo. "Today's event and the statewide program are a testimonial to the value of awareness and education for improving early detection, which is critical for saving lives."

The event's speaking program also included Dr. Adam Kibel, Professor of Surgery and Chief, Division of Urology at Brigham and Women's Hospital. "Improving patients' care through targeted, sensible screening, treatment and, most importantly, education, is a critical aspect of our mission at Brigham and Women's Hospital," said Kibel, who is also affiliated with Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School. "This partnership is a step forward in our on-going efforts to eradicate suffering from prostate cancer."

As an essential part of the statewide program announced today, AdMeTech Foundation will integrate efforts of the leaders of public policy, medicine, research, advocacy, government, and local communities to undertake multi-disciplinary educational campaign. The multifaceted effort will include statewide community outreach and educational events, designed to parallel the widespread and successful programs in breast cancer awareness and education. The primary targets of this campaign will be the Massachusetts communities with the highest prostate cancer mortality, including but not limited to, Suffolk, Franklin and Hampden counties.

The program will culminate in the first global public conference on prostate cancer diagnosis, planned for September 2016 to create a consensus-based strategy for expediting the development and transfer of the promising advances in patient care and clinical trials from laboratories to clinics.

About AdMeTech Foundation: A 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Boston, MA, AdMeTech Foundation established the Manogram^® Project providing international leadership for groundbreaking programs in research, education and awareness in order to advance early detection and treatment. For more information, visit www.admetech.org.

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SOURCE AdMeTech Foundation

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