Prostate Cancer Awareness Day at the Massachusetts State House to be held on September 10, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) September 9, 2009 --

Boston, Massachusetts —AdMeTech Foundation, in cooperation with the leaders of the Massachusetts State House, medicine and advocacy groups, will be hosting the first Prostate Cancer Awareness Day at the Massachusetts State House on September 10, 2009. This event is held in recognition of a Proclamation of September 2009 as a National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month by the President of the United States. In his Proclamation President Obama stated: “My Administration supports prevention efforts and research to develop better screening tests, uncover more effective treatments, and ensure quality of life for all who are diagnosed with this illness. … I encourage citizens, Government agencies, private businesses, nonprofit organizations, and other interested groups to join in activities that will increase awareness of what Americans can do to prevent and control prostate cancer.”

During the awareness day celebrations, Senator Steven Tolman will present AdMeTech Foundation’s president, Dr. Faina Shtern with a joint resolution signed by 48 members of the Massachusetts House of Representatives and Senate recognizing the prevalence of prostate cancer in Massachusetts and in our nation, the importance of early and accurate diagnosis, “demonstrating America’s dedication to improving detection, screening and treatment of Prostate Cancer”, and recognizing AdMeTech for its role in Prostate Cancer Awareness Day. This event is expected to raise awareness of prostate cancer as an epidemic which requires immediate attention as a national priority similar to breast cancer.

Prostate cancer has become the most common major cancer in the United States and the second most lethal cancer in men. While prostate strikes as many as 1 in 6 men and has become even more common than breast cancer (striking 1 in 8 women), men do not have accurate and accessible diagnostic tools comparable to life-saving mammograms. “The lack of accurate diagnostics cause prostate cancer to become both a patient care crisis and a socio-economic problem, compromising survival and quality of lives in millions of American men and adding billions of dollars to national health care. And yet, public awareness and private and public investment in prostate cancer research lags far behind that of breast cancer”, stated Dr. Faina Shtern, President of AdMeTech and a former head of Diagnostic Imaging at the National Cancer Institute, where she led the development of breast cancer imaging tools, which have been recently accepted as routine part of patient care. Accurate diagnostics, including prostate cancer imaging, will improve prevention, screening, early detection and treatment.

“We believe that the Massachusetts State House’s Prostate Cancer Awareness Day will be an important step towards greater recognition of the importance of advanced diagnostic tools and their potential to improve early detection and treatment and thus, to eliminate the prostate cancer crisis, just like advanced imaging transformed breast cancer care”, declared Senator Stephen Brewer, Representative William Greene and Representative Stephen Kulik, all prostate cancer survivors. They will be joined by Senator Steven Tolman and Representative Kevin Honan; Drs. Philip Kantoff and Clare Tempany, who provide leadership for prostate cancer research at Harvard Medical School’s Cancer Center; and advocacy groups, including Mr. Thomas Farrington of the Prostate Health Educational Network and Massachusetts Prostate Cancer Coalition, and Mr. Sanford Jeames of Us TOO.

TIME & PLACE: Thursday, September 10, 2009, 10 am to 12 noon, at the

Nurse’s Hall, Massachusetts State House.

RSVP: Admission is free. For more information and to register, please

contact AdMeTech Foundation by calling 617-523-3535, emailing isalvador@admetech.org, or visiting www.admetech.org.

ABOUT ADMETECH FOUNDATION: The AdMeTech Foundation is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to end prostate cancer as a patient care crisis and socioeconomic problem. AdMeTech conducts ground-breaking programs in research and education to advance diagnostic tools for improved early detection and treatment of prostate cancer. Since 1998, AdMeTech’s research program pioneered development and support of molecular imaging of prostate cancer, prostate-dedicated robotics and optical technologies for biopsy and treatment, advanced high-precision MRI and other technologies. Starting in 2005, AdMeTech initiated a public educational program “Where is Manogram?”, and in 2008, a public awareness campaign “Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer” modeled after “Race for the Cure of Breast Cancer”. Dance for the Cure has been held in cooperation with the local leaders of dancing community, including but not limited to Arthur Murray Dance Studios, SuperShag Productions and MASSabda. The next event of the Dance for the Cure will be opened by Mayor Thomas Menino, President of the Boston City Council Michael Ross and Executive Director of Boston Ballet Barry Hughson on October 10, 2009. For more information, please visit www.admetech.org.

PROSTATE CANCER CRISIS: CURRENT FACTS AND FUTURE VISION

Current scientific data questions the value of the existing blind diagnostics in prostate cancer, but clearly demonstrates over- and under-diagnosis. Over-diagnosis causes more than 1 million men to undergo unnecessary and traumatic biopsies every year (at a cost of over $2 billion) and unnecessary treatment in as many as 54% of men with early disease. Under-diagnosis and the related under-estimation of the extent, the stage, and the aggressiveness of prostate cancer results in as many as 1 in 2 men undergoing treatment to experience failure of that treatment, including cancer recurrence and/or progression. Blind treatment causes life-altering complications, including impotence and incontinence. Accurate diagnostics, including prostate cancer imaging, will eliminate the prostate cancer crisis – these tools will enable early detection, which is critical for cure; assessment of cancer stage and aggressiveness that are critical to identify which patients need to be treated and what treatment should be administered; and guidance of minimally-invasive treatment akin to image-guided lumpectomy in women, which can be performed with reduced complications, discomfort, and costs.

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