STATEWIDE – NJN Public Television explores the cutting edge of cancer research, diagnosis and prevention in Diagnosis Cancer, a one-hour documentary hosted by Sara Lee Kessler, NJN’s Emmy Award-winning health and medical correspondent. The program features taped field pieces, plus a rotating panel of cancer experts, including doctors, scientists, prevention specialists and cancer survivors taped before a live audience. The program panel includes such cancer specialists as Dr. William Hait, Director of The Cancer Institute of New Jersey; Dr. Michael Harris, Director of Tomorrows Children’s Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center ; and Dr. Clifton Lacy, Commissioner of the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. The program airs on Wednesday, April 28, at 9 pm , and Saturday, May 1, at 3 pm

It has been more than thirty years since President Richard Nixon declared war on cancer and set a goal to find a cure. In those days, scientists had not discovered what we know today: that cancer is more than a hundred different diseases triggered by such intersecting factors as heredity, lifestyle and environment. Until recently, doctors focused treatment on specific target areas, killing the tumor as well as the healthy cells surrounding it. Today, doctors are rethinking that strategy. Thanks to the mapping of the human genome, the future will involve a tailored approach to treatment based on a cancer patient’s individual profile.

The timing of Diagnosis Cancercouldn’t be more relevant. According to 2004 American Cancer Society statistics, New Jersey has the grim distinction of being ranked number one in the incidence of prostate cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and male colorectal cancer. A woman living in New Jersey is more likely to die from breast cancer than a woman living in any other state except Rhode Island .

There’s also a widening gap between blacks and whites in both cancer incidence and cancer death rates. Diagnosis Cancer looks at “Sister to Sister”, an American Cancer Society program aimed at reducing the risk of breast and cervical cancers in the minority community.

This year 44,000 New Jerseyans will learn they have cancer. The disease will claim the lives of 18,000 people, accounting for one in four of the state’s deaths. Yet millions of Americans, both in New Jersey and across the nation, are alive today years after being diagnosed with cancer. Today, doctors are no longer reluctant to use the word “cure” when it comes to cancer, and some believe that postponing death until late in life must be seen as a victory in the war on cancer. Matt Wernoch, a 31-year-old childhood leukemia survivor, told Kessler, “Right now, I’m working, living, and I hope people can look at me and see that here I am, an example.”

Diagnosis Cancer examines these issues as it explores the cutting edge of cancer research, including gene therapy, cancer vaccines and drugs that cut off the blood supply to tumors. Sara Lee Kessler visits Merck and Roche to learn directly from scientists what’s in the drug pipeline. The program looks at the latest treatment options, including clinical trials taking place at hospitals and cancer centers. Patients, including teens, talk frankly about what it’s like to hear the word “cancer” for the first time and then go on to survive it. Diagnosis Cancerdemonstrates the importance of cancer screenings, early detection and what individuals can do to reduce the risk of cancer.

Janice Selinger is the executive producer, Sara Lee Kessler is host/senior producer, Kate Megargee and Lisa Bair Miller are co-producers and Laurel Spira is the director. Funding for Diagnosis Cancer is made possible by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the University Medical Center at Princeton .

PANELISTS

• Dr. Clifton R. Lacy, Commissioner, NJ Department of Health and Senior Services
• Dr. William N. Hait, Director, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey
• Natasha Coleman, American Cancer Society, Senior Director of Cancer Control & Patient Navigation
• Dr. Michael Harris, Director of Tomorrows Children’s Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center
• Dr. Arnold Baskies, Chairman of the Governor’s Task Force on Cancer Prevention
• Dr. Arnold Rabson, Molecular Geneticist, The Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
• Matt Wernock, childhood leukemia survivor
• Dr. Elissa J. Santoro, Breast Surgeon, St. Barnabas Medical Center
• Dr. Eric Rubin, Director, Department of Clinical Pharmacology at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey
• Linda Johnson, Breast Cancer Survivor and Chair of the National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer
• Constance Pfeiffer, Pharm D, Cancer Prevention Specialist, Princeton HealthCare System
• Phil Benson, Prostate Cancer Survivor and Chair, NJ Prostate Cancer Task Force
• Dr. Beverly Rossi Ryan, Director of “Cure and Beyond” Program of Tomorrows Children’s Institute at Hackensack University Medical Center
• Dr. John Baumann, Radiation Oncologist, Princeton HealthCare System