If
you’re shopping on Amazon for Cyber Monday, select the American Cancer Society
as your charity of choice through the AmazonSmile program. It's a simple and
automatic way for you to support the American Cancer Society every time you
shop. Sign
up before you make your Amazon PrimeDay purchases.
If you are shopping this Black Friday consider take advantage of the growing number of opportunities to support the American Cancer Society’s mission by buying products through the support while you shop and partner promotions.
Feelings of depression, anxiety, and fear are common and are normal responses to cancer and the loss of a loved one. Furthermore, the self-isolation due to the pandemic have heightened these emotions for many. Holidays can increase these emotions even more.
Learn more about coping with grief during the holidays and reach out if you need a friendly ear or cancer relates resources. The American Cancer Society’s Cancer Information Specialists are available 24-hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year (even on holidays like Thanksgiving), cancer never takes a holiday and neither does the American Cancer Society. Call ACS at 1.800.227.2345 or chat us via www.cancer.org.
Donations will be matched $1-for-$1, up to $75,000.
#GivingTuesday is a global day of giving and unity. On Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2020, the world will be focused on giving, and we have an opportunity to showcase the urgent needs of cancer patients and ACS in a climate that has been significantly impacted by COVID-19.
Thanks to the generous support of anonymous matching gift donors, all donations made to ACS on #GivingTuesday will be matched dollar-for-dollar, up to $75,000 (excludes peer-to-peer event donations).
The preferred link for donations is: cancer.org/givingtuesday.
We’re asking all volunteers and staff to take advantage of this moment and this matching gift incentive by participating in one of the following ways:
Together, let’s spread the message that by choosing to donate to ACS this #GivingTuesday, your money will go further and help more people, doubling your impact against cancer.
* Shared from MySocietySource.
Reflective of our ongoing commitment to advance diversity and inclusion at the American Cancer Society, CEO Gary Reedy and Tawana Thomas-Johnson, vice president, Diversity and Inclusion, participated in the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion virtual summit on Nov. 19.
CEO Action brought together more than1,000 C-suite leaders for the 4th annual CEO Closed-Door Session and CHRO & CDO Summit, convening leaders to take critical action on diversity and inclusion in the workplace and society during a definitive year in our nation’s history.
Key topics and themes covered how this year’s moments of reckoning, impacts of COVID-19, and the recent election help reimagine how to adapt measurable, accountable, and transparent solutions to tackle systemic issues of racial injustice and inequity. Additionally, participants discussed how to move the numbers on diversity within their organizations, including succession planning and hosting tough conversations about race.
Last fall, Gary joined a large group of company leaders in making a united commitment to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace by signing the CEO Action for Diversity and Inclusion pledge. As an organization, we should recognize the progress made this year including:
* Shared from MySocietySource.
Nearly 1 in 5 cancer patients less likely to enroll for fear of COVID-19 exposure.
A significant portion of cancer patients may be less likely to enroll in a clinical trial due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. According to an article published this week in JAMA Oncology, nearly 1 in 5 cancer patients surveyed said the pandemic would make them less likely to enroll in a trial. The top reason given for not enrolling is fear of COVID-19 exposure.
“While most patients would still be willing to take part in a clinical trial during the pandemic, the fear of COVID-19 exposure that would come with participating in a clinical trial is poised to cause many otherwise interested patients from enrolling. This means that trials that already struggled to find enough patients are likely to see reduced enrollment as long as the pandemic continues,” said Mark Fleury, co-author of the article and policy principle for emerging issues at ACS CAN. “The barriers patients already faced pre pandemic made it challenging to take part in clinical trials. Now with the addition of COVID-19, it is even harder and we’re likely to see long-term impacts on the pace of research.”
The finding was based on a survey ACS CAN conducted of cancer patients and survivors between late May and mid-June. Later surveys showed COVID anxiety remains high among patients and fear of contracting the virus were cited—along with facility closures—as one of the main reasons patients delayed cancer care. Cancer patients are among those most at risk for severe effects of the coronavirus.
“The pandemic caused many institutions to stop enrolling new patients on clinical trials, and the assumption was that once facilities reopened, they could get enrollment back to normal. What we’ve found is that so long as the pandemic is still underway, fewer patients are going to volunteer for clinical trials,” said Fleury. “The solution is that we need to get the pandemic under control or find innovative ways like telemedicine visits so that patients can take part in clinical trials without feeling exposed to additional COVID-19 risks.”
Largest gift in our 20-year history with this Atlanta-based institution - thanks to the work of many staffers!
The American Cancer Society is thrilled to share the news of a major investment from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation: a $5 million grant in support of our work. The foundation is giving $1 million toward the renovation of our Atlanta Hope Lodge and $4 million in support of our health equity research.
The health equity funding will support our ongoing efforts led by our Atlanta-based Population, Data, and Implementation teams. Together, these teams work together to better understand where health disparities exist, contributing factors, and how to deploy evidence-based strategies that aim to reduce these disparities.
The Woodruff Foundation is an Atlanta-based funding institution that has long supported ACS. The Foundation is focused on improving quality of life in Georgia by investing in health, education, economic opportunity, and community vitality. This is the largest gift we have received from the organization over the course of our 20-year relationship.
This grant is special, not only because it supports our mission-critical work at a very challenging time, but because it truly exemplifies how we “win together.” Gary identified the Woodruff Foundation as a key prospect for our 2020 Cancer Research Funding Challenge based on both his relationship with the funder and the organization’s focus on Georgia-based work. The GHQ Philanthropy team then developed the strategy for approaching the foundation. They collaborated with the Southeast Region team, the Office of the Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, and Finance to develop a targeted proposal based on the foundation’s areas of interest. The result was a huge win for ACS!
* Shared from MySocietySource.
The American Cancer Society has published the first population-based study on lung cancer screening rates for all 50 states, and finds that the rates were not aligned with lung cancer burden. The report appears in JNCI: The Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Lung cancer continues to be the leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S., with an estimated 135,720 deaths expected in 2020.
Lung cancer screening with low-dose CT (LDCT) has the potential to reduce cancer death and has been recommended for people with a heavy smoking history since 2013. However, previous studies show it is underutilized.
For this study, investigators led by Stacey Fedewa, PhD, MPH, and co-authored by members of the National Lung Cancer Roundtable, examined lung cancer screening with LDCT rates and growth in all 50 states, including Washington D.C., from 2016 to 2018. They also looked at how states’ lung cancer screening rates correlated with lung cancer burden, sociodemographic status, and access to lung cancer screening.
“The increasing but low utilization of lung cancer screening reflects both ongoing efforts to screening eligible adults, and the many challenges to do so,” said Stacey. “Kentucky, which has supported screening implementation efforts, is unique as its screening rates are over twice the national average and four times that of other high lung cancer burden states like West Virginia and Arkansas.”
Results show that several Northeastern states with lower lung cancer burden (e.g. Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire with <44 lung cancer deaths per 100,000) had the highest screening rates (12.8%-15.2%), and several Southern states with a high lung cancer burden (e.g. Mississippi, West Virginia, Arkansas with >50 lung cancer deaths per 100,000) had lower screening rates (<4%) among eligible adults. A notable exception was Kentucky, which simultaneously holds the nation’s highest lung cancer death rate and one of the highest lung cancer screening rates (13.7%).
The authors say their finding shows that while overall lung cancer screening rates increased nationally between 2016-2018, the rate was still low in 2018, with only 5-6% eligible adults in the U.S. receiving lung cancer low-dose CT (LDCT). Relative to the national average, screening rate ratios were lower in 8 states, mostly in the West or South and 50% higher in 13 states, mostly in the Northeast or Midwest with Kentucky as the outlier.
The study also found that compared to the national average, lung cancer screening rates were about 20% lower in states with a high proportion of uninsured adults who smoked and 40% lower in states with a relatively low number of lung cancer screening facilities; suggesting that there may be critical gaps in access to lung cancer screening. According to sociodemographic factors, screening rates were positively correlated with the proportion of smokers who were female and negatively correlated with smokers who were Hispanic. Results showed that states with adults who smoked and are Hispanic had a significantly lower screening rate ratio than the national average.
“Deliberate effort from various stakeholders such as policy makers, cancer control, health systems, and providers are needed to boost lung cancer screening rates among eligible adults with a heavy smoking history, a group facing multiple barriers to lung cancer screening and cancer care,” said the authors. “If states know what their lung cancer screening rates are, they can set a goal and track progress toward it.”
*Shared from MySocetySource.
On #InternationMensDay learn more about many of the cancers that commonly affect men, and about what you can do to help protect yourself and your loved ones at cancer.org.
