Cancer Center joins LIVESTRONG™ Survivorship Center of Excellence Network
Lance Armstrong Foundation establishes network of comprehensive cancer centers to address needs of growing population of Americans living with cancer
The University of Colorado Cancer Center (UCCC) has joined the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) in helping address the needs of the growing number of cancer survivors in the United States through the LIVESTRONG™ Survivorship Center of Excellence Network. The LAF has pledged $1.7 million, which will be distributed throughout the next five years, to support the center’s progressive, comprehensive support for survivorship programs that will help people affected by cancer to live life on their own terms.
The LIVESTRONG Survivorship Center of Excellence Network is an invitation-only collaborative partnership among the LAF, National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers at leading medical institutions nationwide and their community affiliates. Working together, members of the network will address topics such as critical survivorship research, new interventions and progress in insurance reimbursement in order to provide the most effective survivorship care. This progressive, comprehensive support for survivorship helps people living with cancer deal with the emotional, practical and physical issues they face in the battle with the disease.
In addition to the UCCC Cancer Survivorship Program, network members include:
• UCLA’s Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle, Wash.)
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, N.Y.)
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, Mass.)
“ Extended cancer survival is a relatively new phenomenon, so the current pace of research and development of effective models of care lags behind the need,” said Caroline Huffman, program officer for the LAF’s survivorship center initiative. “To help accelerate the pace of progress in addressing the needs of the growing survivor community, the LAF established the LIVESTRONG Survivorship Centers of Excellence Network to serve as comprehensive, one-stop sources of information, care and services for cancer survivors, family members and service providers.”
Today, more than 10 million Americans are living with cancer. As the number of people surviving cancer continues to rise and as their challenges grow in magnitude and complexity, an increasing need exists for new models of survivorship care and research.
“ This initiative will allow our network to extend critically important survivorship programs to cancer survivors in Colorado, in particular those who are underserved or living in rural areas,” said Al Marcus, PhD, director of the UCCC LIVESTRONG Survivorship Center of Excellence.
The UCCC Cancer Survivorship Program includes UCCC, Denver Health Medical Center, St. Mary-Corwin Medical Center in Pueblo, Colo. and St. Mary’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Grand Junction, Colo. Services of the program include enhancing cancer survivorship resources, establishing educational programs and providing information, counseling and support by telephone.
For more information about UCCC Cancer Survivorship Program call Alison Faust, program manager at 720-848-0395 or visit www.uccc.info.
