June 2011

Walks for Bladder Cancer Were a Success – Join Us in 2012!

On Saturday, May 7, Bladder Cancer Awareness Day, survivors, caregivers, loved ones and friends from across the country joined BCAN to walk to raise money for bladder cancer research and education, and to increase awareness of this under-recognized and under-funded disease. We worked together to raise more than $130,000 in donations and sponsorships, and had over 40 walks in more than 20 states. We’d like to pass on a huge thanks to all of the walk organizers, walkers, donors and supporters who made the 2011 Awareness Day such a huge success!

BCAN is thrilled to announce that next year, walks in honor of Bladder Cancer Awareness Day will be on Saturday, May 5, 2012. We hope you will celebrate with us by Walking for Bladder Cancer! Learn more and sign up to walk in 2012.

Jeff Breslow’s Long Trail Walk

This August, Jeffrey Breslow will hike the 272-mile Long Trail in Vermont, starting at the border of Massachusetts and ending at the border of Canada. He is walking in honor of his brother and BCAN volunteer Gene, and David, another dear friend of his, both of whom have suffered from bladder cancer.

So far, Jeff has raised more than $35,000 for BCAN! Learn more about Jeff’s walk and how you can support him.

Bladder Cancer Awareness in Times Square

BCAN is thrilled to announce that this awareness video is now playing in Times Square and on Tribune television stations across the country. The video will run each hour on a Jumbotron (without audio) in Times Square through the 4th of July. Please share this video with your friends, embed it on your website, and help raise awareness of bladder cancer! We would especially like to thank bladder cancer survivor Carrie King and her team for creating the video.

2011 Research Award Winner and Travel Fellows

BCAN is pleased to announce that Dr. Gil Redelman-Sidi, a research fellow at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, is the winner of the 2011 Raymond and Maria Floyd Award for Bladder Cancer Research. The $25,000 award will support Dr. Redelman-Sidi’s research to identify genetic changes that could predict whether bladder cancer patients will respond to instillation of BCG, a common treatment to reduce the risk of recurrences. This information could eventually be used to increase patient responsiveness to BCG treatment. Read more about the award.

BCAN also announced the four young investigators who have been awarded 2011 John Quale Travel Fellowships. This travel award is intended cover the cost of attending BCAN’s annual Think Tank meeting, which will be held in San Diego, California, in August 2011. This is the third year BCAN has presented travel fellowships for the Think Tank meeting. Learn more about the award winners.

White House Petition to Prevent Cancer by Regulating Chemicals

Exposure to dangerous chemicals increases the risk of many cancers, including bladder cancer. In April 2010, the President’s Cancer Panel released a report urging the president to work to remove toxic cancer-causing chemicals from our environment. Unfortunately, little has changed in the past year. That’s why BCAN’s Executive Director, Larry Rzepka, joined colleagues from the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Family coalition to petition the White House to recognize the important role of cancer prevention and work to eliminate the use of cancer-causing chemicals. Read more.

BCAN Launches Hope After Recurrence Campaign

BCAN is pleased to announce the launch of the Hope After Recurrence™ campaign. The goal of the campaign is to support survivors who are facing non-muscle invasive bladder cancer recurrence by providing information on the condition, offering tools and resources, and helping them feel connected to others who are experiencing a return of their bladder cancer. This comprehensive online resource is available at www.HopeAfterRecurrence.com.

Trials to Note

BCAN is currently listing information about new clinical trials from the National Cancer Institute and Endo Pharmaceuticals. To view the latest bladder cancer clinical trials, look at the right hand column of BCAN’s Clinical Trials information page. To see what clinical trials you qualify for, use BCAN’s Clinical Trials Matching Service by calling 800-504-7442 or visit http://www.emergingmed.com/partners/bcan/.

Patient Forums

BCAN is currently planning patient forums in Colorado in September and in Texas in December. More details will be posted on the Patient Forums page as the schedules are finalized. We hope to see many of you there!

BCAN’s Spring 2011 patient forum was held in Los Angeles on Saturday, March 12. Slides and video from the presentations have now been posted.