For
Immediate Release
(New York, NY – March 7, 2006) It was with great
sadness that we at Joan’s Legacy: The Joan Scarangello
Foundation to Conquer Lung Cancer learned of the death
of actress and activist Dana Reeve. On behalf of our
Board of Directors, staff, and volunteers, we extend
our deepest sympathies to the Reeve and Morosini families
for their loss. In all that she did, Dana Reeve was
a model of courage, grace, and dignity.
“Dana Reeve was a model
of strength, hope and determination in this difficult
battle,” said Patrick McNeive, the foundation’s
president. “As she fought for her own life, she
provided inspiration to the 173,000 other lung cancer
patients – smokers and non-smokers – who
are confronting lung cancer this year. And by publicly
announcing her lung cancer, she helped to decrease the
stigma attached to this disease.”
The heartbreaking loss of
Dana Reeve shines a spotlight on lung cancer and the
lack of research into increasing survival through earlier
diagnosis and more effective treatment.
Dana Reeve, like Joan Scarangello,
was one of the 25,000 never-smokers who die of lung
cancer every year – of which four out of five
are women. Dana, like Joan and like Joan’s mother
20 years before her, was diagnosed late and had very
few options for treatment. All three survived less than
a year from their surprising diagnosis. Sadly, this
is also true for the majority of the 162,000 patients
of any smoking status who die of lung cancer each year
in this country.
In the 25 years spanning
these women’s deaths there has been very limited
progress in the development of treatment. Joan’s
Legacy is rededicated – with every awful loss
– to forcing progress, raising money to spur desperately
needed research into this under-funded cause.
About Joan’s
Legacy’s Research Program
Joan’s Legacy has funded
$1.3 million in research grants in the past three years.
“Our mission is to
identify and fund innovative research projects that
might never get off the ground without the early support
we provide, as well as to raise awareness that lung
cancer also strikes nonsmokers,” Mr. McNeive said.
For more information about
the research projects Joan’s Legacy is funding
at top cancer centers, including Memorial Sloan-Kettering,
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory,
Vanderbilt University, Dana Farber Cancer Center at
Harvard University, Ohio State University, Columbia
University and more, please visit www.joanslegacy.org
About Joan’s
Legacy
Joan’s Legacy is named
for Joan Scarangello, a writer and nonsmoker who died
at age 47 after a valiant nine-month struggle with lung
cancer. Joan’s Legacy is committed to fighting
lung cancer by searching for a cure and focusing greater
attention on the world’s leading cancer killer.
Founded in 2002, Joan’s Legacy is fast becoming
the “venture capital” for lung cancer research.
Lung cancer is the number
one cancer killer in the United States, taking more
than 160,000 lives each year. Yet lung cancer receives
less research funding than almost any other cancer,
making the work of Joan’s Legacy even more compelling.
Joan’s Legacy will
make grant awards every fall. The Foundation also hosts
a benefit every November (Lung Cancer Awareness Month),
which helps to fund its research initiatives. For more
information about Joan’s Legacy and lung cancer,
please visit www.joanslegacy.org.
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