'OPEN DOORS TO HEALTH' FOCUSES ON
COLON CANCER PREVENTION IN BOSTON
AFFORDABLE HOUSING COMMUNITY

BOSTON, May 17, 2004 --- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Boston affordable housing community are launching Open Doors to Health, a colon cancer prevention and awareness program. Initial funding for this program was provided by the Entertainment Industry Foundation's (EIF) National Colorectal Cancer Research Alliance (NCCRA), which was co-founded by journalist Katie Couric. The National Cancer Institute is providing further funding for this program.

This study is being conducted by members of the Center for Community-Based Research at Dana-Farber in collaboration with a number of Boston-area low-income housing sites. The study is designed to develop new strategies for increasing colorectal cancer screenings and also focuses on increasing physical activity, a key risk factor for colon cancer.

"Increasing awareness of colon cancer and being tested for it is the first step to beating this disease," says Karen Emmons, Ph.D., deputy director of the Center for Community-Based Research at Dana-Farber. Colon cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for men and women combined in the United States.

The official launch of Open Doors to Health will be on Monday, May 24, 2 pm, at the United South End Settlements' Harriet Tubman House on Columbus Avenue in Boston. Couric is the featured speaker at the event, and Rev. Roland McCall and officials from Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women's Hospital will join her.

"I am honored the NCCRA was able to provide seed funding to launch this groundbreaking work," said Katie Couric. "There are terrible disparities in access to -- and quality of -- healthcare in this country, and the burden of cancer is too often greater for families who are struggling financially. While colon cancer is the #2 cancer killer, it is curable 90% of the time when detected early. This program is so important because every life is precious, and getting people to get screened saves lives."

The sites for Open Doors to Health include: Mission Main, Grant Manor, Tenant Development Corp, Marcus Garvery Garden Apartments, St. Joseph's Community, Robert Fortes, Mission Park, Villa Victoria, Madison Park, Academy Holmes, Walnut Park, Elm Hill and Blue Hill Housing.

The program's goal is to create a "community" at each site that promotes cancer prevention. In addition to providing education materials about physical activity and colorectal cancer screening, the program will:

• form a Resident Task Force made up of residents and Open Doors to Health staff to decide which health activities to bring to the housing site;
• train residents to be peer leaders, who will run health activities, provide colorectal cancer information, teach about colorectal cancer screening, and help residents set up and keep screening appointments;
• establish a Resource Center in each housing site, which will have health education materials;
• bring events to each housing site that encourage physical activity and help get residents involved; and
• provide access to colorectal cancer screening at local hospitals.

A clinical component of the study will also provide an understanding of why colon cancer mortality varies among different groups and whether or not the disease is biologically different.

"This study's findings could lead to the earlier detection of colon cancer, better treatments and improved outcomes," says Robert J. Mayer, M.D., director of the Center for Gastrointestinal Oncology at Dana-Farber. Mayer is also a member of the NCCRA medical advisory board.

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (www.danafarber.org) is a principal teaching affiliate of the Harvard Medical School and is among the leading cancer research and care centers in the United States. It is a founding member of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center (DF/HCC), designated a comprehensive cancer center by the National Cancer Institute.

The NCCRA is dedicated to the eradication of colon cancer by promoting education about the importance of early medical screening and funding cutting-edge research to develop betters tests, treatments and ultimately, a cure. The NCCRA was co-founded in March of 2000 by journalist Katie Couric, cancer activist Lilly Tartikoff, and the Entertainment Industry Foundation. As a result of the attention NCCRA and NBC's TODAY show focused on colorectal cancer, the number of colonoscopy screenings increased almost 20 percent. Researchers at the University of Michigan have referred to this as "the Couric Effect."