Friday, February 8, 2008

Bon Jovi to kick off Stand Up For A Cure Concert Series

New York-based non-profit, Stand Up For A Cure, has announced that Bon Jovi will kick off the Stand Up For A Cure 2008 Concert Series, which will also include performances by Andrea Bocelli, an evening with Jerry Seinfeld, and Brian Wilson over the upcoming year. In a year-long effort to raise funds towards eradicating lung cancer, the Concert Series will feature high-profile performances by some of world’s most beloved artists in intimate settings. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center’s lung cancer research efforts will benefit from the Stand Up For A Cure 2008 Concert Series.

Planned just days before the U.S. leg of their Lost Highway World Tour, Bon Jovi’s Stand Up For A Cure Concert on February 12, 2008 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City will be dedicated to the memory of guitarist Richie Sambora's late father, Adam Sambora, who received care at Memorial Sloan-Kettering before his passing last year.

“Our goal is to cure lung cancer. The only way we can do that is through research to discover treatments to conquer it once and for all,” said Mark Kris, MD, Chief of the Thoracic Oncology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. “We applaud Stand Up For A Cure for making lung cancer research a priority, and helping us get one step closer to our goal.”

Jordan Belkin, Registered Nurse and Executive Producer of Stand Up for a Cure notes, “As an oncology nurse, I have witnessed the devastation of this disease on patients and families. These performances by these superstar artists will shine a light on the need for funding and awareness. We are grateful for their participation and view it as a testament to what can be accomplished when public figures commit to lending a hand."

According to the National Cancer Institute, lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death among both men and women in the United States and it will kill more people this year than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colorectal cancer combined. About 84% of all lung cancers are diagnosed at an advanced stage – including smokers and nonsmokers – and only about 16% of all patients survive this disease after five years

Despite these staggering facts, lung cancer research continues to be severely underfunded.

Additional Stand Up For A Cure Concerts will be announced shortly. The Bon Jovi Stand Up For A Cure Concert on February 12th was made possible largely due to a donation from CityView Racquet Club.

About Stand Up for a Cure (www.sufac.org) – Stand Up for a Cure was founded to raise awareness and funding for lung cancer research, treatment and education. Stand Up for a Cure’s relationships with some of the finest medical institutions, research institutes and government agencies allows them to direct support and funding to those programs which demonstrate the most evidence-based hope for progress. Research funding is allocated to developing new treatments and improving existing ones, advancements in the surgical treatment of lung cancer and in the laboratory where scientists investigate the genomics of the disease in an effort to cure it.

About Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (www.mskcc.org) - Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center is the world’s oldest and largest private institution devoted to prevention, patient care, research, and education in cancer. Its scientists and clinicians generate innovative approaches to better understand, diagnose, and treat cancer. Its specialists are leaders in biomedical research and in translating the latest research to advance the standard of cancer care worldwide.

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