LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION ESTABLISHES LIVESTRONG™ SURVIVORSHIP CENTER OF EXCELLENCE NETWORK
Comprehensive Cancer Centers will Join LAF in Addressing Needs of Growing Population of Americans Living with Cancer

AUSTIN, Texas - March 23, 2006 - The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) today announced the creation of the LIVESTRONG™ Survivorship Centers of Excellence Network to address the needs of the growing number of cancer survivors in the United States. This progressive, comprehensive support for survivorship issues helps people affected by cancer to live life on their own terms.

The LIVESTRONG Survivorship Center of Excellence Network is an invitation-only collaborative partnership among the LAF, National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated comprehensive cancer centers at leading medical institutions nationwide and their community affiliates.  Working together, members of the Network will address topics such as critical survivorship research, new interventions and progress in insurance reimbursement in order to provide the most effective survivorship care.  Network members include:

• UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
• Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (Seattle, Wash.)
• University of Colorado Cancer Center (Denver, Colo.)
• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (New York, N.Y.)
  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, Mass.)

"Extended cancer survival is a relatively new phenomenon, so the current pace of research and of the development of effective models of care lags behind the need," said Caroline Huffman, survivorship network officer at the LAF.  "To help accelerate the pace of progress in addressing the needs of the growing survivor community, the Lance Armstrong Foundation established the LIVESTRONG Survivorship Center Network to serve as comprehensive, one-stop sources of information, care and services for people affected by cancer."

The LIVESTRONG Survivorship Center of Excellence Network intends to:

• Increase the quality of life for people affected by cancer; 
• Transform the manner in which people living with cancer are treated and served;
• Help develop an integrated, coherent body of knowledge about survivorship and its treatment and service requirements;
• Help develop evidence-based interventions to enhance the health and well-being of cancer survivors;
• Significantly increase the quality and integration of the full range of survivorship services and accessibility to these services through community-based centers and increase the degree to which survivorship care and services complement primary cancer treatment and care; and   
• Help develop insurance policies, reimbursement mechanisms and other financial strategies for covering the costs of survivor care and services and for sustaining the life of survivorship centers over the long term.

Today, more than 10 million Americans are living with cancer.  As the number of people surviving cancer continues to rise and as their challenges grow in magnitude and complexity, an increasing need exists for new models of survivorship care and research. 

About the Lance Armstrong Foundation
The Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) inspires and empowers people affected by cancer. We help people with cancer focus on living; we believe that unity is strength, knowledge is power and attitude is everything. From the moment of diagnosis, the LAF provides the practical information and tools people with cancer need to live life on their own terms. The LAF serves its mission through advocacy, public health and research. Founded in 1997 by cancer survivor and champion cyclist Lance Armstrong, the LAF is located in Austin, Texas. For more information, visit www.livestrong.org.