FOR IMMEDIATE MEDIA RELEASE
Tuesday, September 15, 2009

• Colon cancer is the third most common cancer diagnosed in both men and women in the United States.
• It is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the U.S.  In 2009 it is expected that nearly 50-thousand Americans will die because of colon cancer.
• 1 in 19 Americans will be diagnosed with colon cancer.
• 26 states and the District of Columbia have passed legislation mandating that private health insurance plans cover all of the testing methods available to detect colon cancer including a colonoscopy.  Ohio is not one of them.
• Colon cancer incidence and mortality rates are highest in African American men and women. Among African Americans, incidence rates are more than 20% higher and mortality rates are about 45% higher than those in whites.

In September, ideastream® will present multi-media coverage — TV, radio and web — examining colon cancer with a special 30-minute local television broadcast, a series of in-depth reports, a Sound of Ideas radio program, and a special segment on Feagler & Friends. Audiences will learn about symptoms, risk factors, and local researchers who are studying DNA to find more effective ways to detect, treat and prevent colon cancer. 

During the television program, noted medical experts will explain how a healthy colon functions and how polyps form and can turn into cancer which, if not detected early enough, can spread to other organs in the body.  We’ll follow a Tallmadge man as he goes through one of the most common, effective, but often misunderstood, screening and diagnostic procedures for colon cancer – the colonoscopy.  Then, we’ll share the experiences of a Shaker Heights woman as she is diagnosed with colon cancer and undergoes surgery to remove the cancerous tumor.  And we’ll also meet a woman from Avon Lake who is part of a family with a history of a particular type of colon cancer known as Lynch Syndrome.

WATCH — LISTEN – CONNECT

WATCH WVIZ/PBS
• Feagler & Friends (Friday, Sept 18 at 8:30pm and replays Sunday, Sept 20 at11:30am)
Dick Feagler interviews Dr. James Church, a local physician specialist who provides the basic who, what, when, where and why of colon cancer plus viewers are treated to a short excerpt from the local television documentary. 
• Confronting Colon Cancer (Thursday Sept 24 at 8pm)
Hosted by ideastream’s Rick Jackson, the show follows the stories of several people in Northeast Ohio who are confronting colon cancer.  Nearly every phase of this disease is explored – from detection to diagnosis, from treatment to steps anyone can take to decrease their chances of getting this disease. 
Encore broadcasts: Thursday, Sept 24 at 10:30pm
Sunday, Sept 27 @ 3pm


LISTEN to 90.3 WCPN
Morning Edition (weekdays, 6-9am)
In-Depth Coverage:
Tuesday, Sept 22: Advances in colonoscopies
Thursday, Sept 24: Living With a Bag – For many patients who survive colon cancer it means living with a colostomy bag.  What is this like?  How does it work?  Morning Edition host Eric Wellman interviews a local patient to get some perspective
Friday, Sept 25:  The experiences of a local patient who is fighting colon cancer

All Things Considered (weekdays, 5-6:30pm)
In-depth Coverage:
Thursday, Sept 24: The story of a local “ostomy” nurse who helps colon cancer patients live with a colostomy bag

Sound of Ideas (weekdays 9-10am)
Friday, September 25: Colon cancer & expensive drugs –hosted by ideastream health reporter Gretchen Cuda. The cost of many cancer drugs is in the tens of thousands of dollars for a single course of treatment.  Recently, experts at the National Institute of Health and National Cancer Institute criticized such excessive spending, citing the high cost and limited benefits of a new drug prescribed to treat colon and lung cancers. This provides a platform for discussion about a larger issue focusing on “how much is too much?” when it comes to the cost of drugs/treatments when compared to expected or even hoped-for outcomes. 

CONNECT to wviz.org/health Share your own story –- Have you been touched by colon cancer?
Read the stories of those who have faced colon cancer
Listen and view on-demand:
o Hear in-depth reports by ideastream’s Gretchen Cuda on the many facets of this disease
o View the television broadcast of Confronting Colon Cancer
o Find multiple resource links for additional research and information

Confronting Colon Cancer is the third installment of ideastream’s multi-media health initiative, following Heart Stories: Confronting the #1 Killer and Diabetes: The Constant Shadow. All programs, plus additional coverage and helpful resource information, can be found online at wviz.org/health.

Funding for Confronting Colon Cancer comes from the Dr. Donald J. Goodman and Ruth Weber Goodman Philanthropic Fund of The Cleveland Foundation, and by The Margaret Clark Morgan Foundation, The Woodruff Foundation, The McGregor Foundation and The Community Foundation of Lorain County.