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News Release

HOSPITAL’S 19TH CANCER AWARENESS WEEK BEGINS MONDAY

UPMC Northwest and UPMC Cancer Center at UPMC Northwest will launch their 19th annual Cancer Awareness Week on Monday, Aug. 13, with a benefit golf scramble.

The hospital and its cancer center observe Cancer Awareness Week every year in August to emphasize the importance of early detection and treatment of cancer and to celebrate progress that is being made locally in the fight against cancer. Cancer Awareness Week also is held to raise funds in support of UPMC Northwest’s cancer care program, to pay tribute to area residents who have battled cancer, and to sharpen the skills of cancer caregivers.

Here’s the schedule for Cancer Awareness Week 2007:

Cancer Awareness Week Golf Scramble – 10 am Monday, Aug. 13, Wanango Country Club. This benefit event annually raises thousands of dollars in support of UPMC Northwest’s cancer care services. Prizes will be awarded to the top teams in men’s, women’s and mixed divisions.

Cancer Awareness Week Nursing Symposium – 3:30 pm Tuesday, August 14, Courtyard Conference Room, UPMC Northwest. “Through the Magnifying Glass: Taking a Closer Look at the Oncology Patient” is the theme for this year’s program, which is for nurses with an interest in cancer care. Speakers will be Lisa Speney, RN, of Amgen Oncology, and Julie Hardy, RN, OCN, of Western Maryland Health System.

Cancer Survivors Celebration – 4:30 pm Wednesday, Aug. 15, Pavilion, UPMC Northwest. This traditional event for cancer survivors and their families will include a free picnic and candlelight ceremony in honor of and in memory of area residents who have had cancer. Names of those who are honored or remembered through the purchase of commemorative Wendell August keepsake ornaments will be read during the ceremony. Venango-Forest Cancer Coalition co-sponsors this event.

Cancer Awareness Week Professional Symposium – 12:45 pm Thursday, Aug. 16, Wanango Country Club. Three UPMC Northwest staff physicians – urologist Sergio Giancola, MD, radiologist Donald Bittner, and colon/rectal surgeon David Ferraro, MD – will address several cancer prevention and treatment topics including bladder and testicular cancer, advances in MRI use for breast cancer, and laparascopic colon surgery. Rehabilitation services manager Joan Randza of UPMC Northwest will discuss the use of rehab services in the treatment of cancer.

Also scheduled to speak are Joseph Kelley, MD, of Magee-Womens Hospital of UPMC, Carolyn De La Cruz, MD, of the UPMC Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Center, and Robert Ferris, MD, of UPMC Cancer Center, whose topics will be endometrial cancer, breast cancer reconstruction, and surgical advances in the treatment of head and neck cancer.