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Women Touched By Ovarian Cancer Saluted at 'Celebrating Survivors' Reunion

Posted on: Tuesday, 20 September 2005, 09:00 CDT

NEW YORK, Sept. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Women living with ovarian cancer will be saluted today at the first "Celebrating Survivors" reunion, an educational forum that honors the spirit, determination and accomplishments of these women. The event, which will take place at Gilda's Club New York City, marks the launch of Celebrating Survivors, a program for women with ovarian cancer to connect, and to receive and exchange information about the disease. Developed by Tibotec Therapeutics, a division of Ortho Biotech Products, L.P., the program provides women with the resources they need to create and expand survivor networks in their own communities.

Held during Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month, the Celebrating Survivors reunion is the first in a series of community-based reunions. Attendees will hear stories from ovarian cancer survivors, a medical overview from oncologist Thomas J. Herzog, M.D., director of Gynecologic Oncology at the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, NY, and tips on survivorship and intimacy from psychologist Jeanne Carter, Ph.D., of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Attendees also can participate in holistic workshops focusing on fitness, nutrition and beauty to help them remain active and lead healthy lifestyles while living with the disease.

"The Celebrating Survivors program is built around a sense of community. There are certain feelings, frustrations and successes that only a fellow ovarian cancer survivor truly can identify with," said Mimi Yurkow, an ovarian cancer survivor who will deliver the event's keynote address. "It sends an important message that, with the help of each other, our doctors, our caregivers and our families, it is possible to live a full and active life with ovarian cancer."

"We are delighted to host the inaugural Celebrating Survivors reunion at our Manhattan Clubhouse. The program speaks to the mission of Gilda's Club to help our members live every day to the fullest," said Migdalia Torres, program director of Gilda's Club New York City. "We hope today's event encourages and serves as a model for other organizations to hold Celebrating Survivors reunions in their communities."

Celebrating Survivors Toolkit

As part of the Celebrating Survivors program, a step-by-step toolkit guide on CD-ROM has been created to help local organizations host their own Celebrating Survivors reunion. The Toolkit includes sample event materials along with tips on organizing a local reunion program, generating attendance and enhancing networking opportunities within the community. The Toolkit materials and other program resources are available at http://www.celebratingsurvivors.com/.

About Ovarian Cancer

Ovarian cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States, and accounts for approximately three percent of all cancers in women. According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 22,220 American women are expected to be diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005, and more than 16,000 women are expected to die from the disease this year. The earlier ovarian cancer is found and treated, the better a woman's chance for recovery. When ovarian cancer is detected before it spreads beyond the ovaries, nine out of 10 women will survive longer than five years. However, roughly 80 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in later stages when the disease is more difficult to treat and the chance of five-year survival is only about 30 percent.

"Ovarian cancer is a devastating and deadly disease, particularly when diagnosed in the later stages when the disease is more difficult to treat," commented Dr. Herzog. "Still, today more and more women are living with ovarian cancer. Learning about treatment options is essential, as is focusing on quality-of-life issues that can make women feel better as they undergo treatment and then hopefully resume a normal life."

About Gilda's Club New York City

The mission of Gilda's Club New York City is to provide a meeting place where women, men and children living with cancer and their families and friends can join with others to build emotional and social support, which are essential supplements to medical care. At Gilda's Club, members can learn to live with cancer, whatever the outcome, in a nonresidential, home-like setting with others who understand how cancer affects one's life. Free-of-charge and nonprofit, Gilda's Club offers support and networking groups, lectures, workshops and social events.

About Tibotec Therapeutics

Tibotec Therapeutics, a division of Ortho Biotech Products, L.P., headquartered in Bridgewater, N.J., is dedicated to delivering innovative oncology, virology and other specialty therapeutics that improve patients' survival and quality of life, and address serious unmet needs in the health care community. In the U.S., the company markets DOXIL(R) (doxorubicin HCl liposome injection) for the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer whose disease has progressed or recurred after platinum-based chemotherapy.

For more information about Tibotec Therapeutics, visit the company's Web site at http://www.tibotectherapeutics.com/.

About DOXIL

DOXIL(R) (doxorubicin HCl liposome injection) is a chemotherapy drug indicated for the treatment of patients with ovarian cancer whose disease has progressed or recurred after platinum-based chemotherapy. DOXIL is an advanced form of doxorubicin, a drug commonly used to treat cancer. DOXIL is surrounded by a coating that allows it to stay in the blood longer so that it can be given once a month. Because of its longer circulation time, DOXIL may also affect normal tissue, causing some side effects.

Myocardial damage may lead to congestive heart failure and may be encountered as the total cumulative dose of doxorubicin HCl approaches 550 mg/m2. The use of DOXIL may lead to cardiac toxicity. Prior use of other anthracyclines or anthracenediones should be included in calculations of total cumulative dosage. Cardiac toxicity may also occur at lower cumulative doses in patients with prior mediastinal irradiation or who are receiving concurrent cyclophosphamide therapy. DOXIL should be administered to patients with a history of cardiovascular disease only when the benefit outweighs the risk. Cardiac function should be carefully monitored in patients treated with DOXIL.

Acute infusion-associated reactions have occurred in up to 10 percent of patients treated with DOXIL. Serious and sometimes life-threatening or fatal allergic/anaphylactoid-like infusion reactions have been reported. Medications to treat such reactions, as well as emergency equipment, should be available for immediate use. Severe myelosuppression may occur. Dosage should be reduced in patients with impaired hepatic function. Accidental substitution of DOXIL for doxorubicin HCl has resulted in severe side effects. DO NOT SUBSTITUTE. The use of DOXIL should be limited to physicians experienced in the use of cancer chemotherapeutic agents.

The most common side effects reported with DOXIL therapy included weakness (asthenia), abdominal pain, fever, pain, mucous membrane disorder, back pain, infection, headache, nausea, mouth sores (stomatitis), vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, lack or loss of appetite (anorexia), impaired digestion (dyspepsia), intestinal obstruction, swelling of the hands or feet (peripheral edema), abnormal touch sensation (paresthesia), inflammation of the pharynx (pharyngitis), difficult or labored breathing (dyspnea), hand-foot syndrome, rash, and hair loss (alopecia).

DOXIL is marketed in the United States by Tibotec Therapeutics and in Israel by Janssen-Cilag. Schering-Plough Corporation, under a licensing agreement, has exclusive rights to market this medication as CAELYX(R) throughout the rest of the world, excluding Japan.

Please see the full U.S. prescribing information enclosed, or by visiting http://www.doxil.com/.

Tibotec Therapeutics

CONTACT: Theresa Tamboer of Johnson & Johnson PharmaceuticalServices, L.L.C., Cell: +1-908-625-8248, Office: +1-908-541-4063; or JenniferSolar of SENSEI Health Communications, jsolar@senseihealth.com,Cell: +1-646-391-0938, Office: +1-212-631-0505

Source: PRNewswire

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