ZERO—The End of Prostate Cancer
ZERO—The End of Prostate Cancer is a national, not-for-profit health care organization based in Washington, D.C.
History
This 501(c)(3) organization was founded in 1996 and named the National Prostate Cancer Coalition. Founding members included the American Cancer Society, the American Urological Association, and the US TOO prostate cancer support network.
Through the years, the organization’s chairmen have included Michael Milken, a financier and president of the Prostate Cancer Foundation, and Wesley S. Williams Jr., an attorney and former president of the Harvard Law School Association. In 2008, the organization changed its name to ZERO—The Project to End Prostate Cancer. In 2012 the organization changed its name to ZERO—The End of Prostate Cancer.
Activities
ZERO has operated The Drive Against Prostate Cancer since 2002. This is a nationwide mobile screening program that provides prostate cancer tests at no charge. Local licensed physicians conduct a two-part early detection procedure, consisting of a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test and a physical examination. Test results are sent to a cancer center for evaluation, and each man receives a notification letter explaining the test results and providing links to information on the web, a toll-free phone number to ZERO, and a contact at the cancer center. Men with abnormal test results receive a second letter urging them to seek medical attention.
The Drive Against Prostate Cancer has traveled to the U. S. Capitol, the New York Stock Exchange, Times Square and major league ballparks, NASCAR races, state fairs, and cities and towns across the U.S. As of September 2009, more than 100,000 men have received prostate cancer tests at no charge through the Drive Against Prostate Cancer program.
Since the introduction of the PSA test in the 1990s as an early detection screening tool for prostate cancer, the prostate cancer death rate has decreased by more than 40 percent. Due to early detection, more than 90 percent of all prostate cancers are found in a localized stage, before spreading to other areas of the body, and the five-year survival rate for these patients approaches 100 percent.
ZERO plans to provide prostate cancer testing to 15,000 men in 2010, but it never happened.
Retired four-star U.S. Army General Colin Powell, former Secretary of State and also a prostate cancer survivor since his successful treatment in 2003, encourages all men to get regular prostate check-ups in order to protect their health. "Men should have regular prostate examinations," he said. "Black men are more susceptible to the disease than others. Regular exams allowed me to deal with this problem early and make a full recovery."
Other activities sponsored by ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer include:
• The DASH FOR DAD and Great Prostate Cancer Challenge national race series. In 2010, the series will hold 14 races across the U.S. with an estimated 7,000 participants. Races will be held in the Washington, DC metro area; Baltimore, MD; Buffalo, NY; Harrisburg, PA; Indianapolis, IN; Kansas City, MO; Nashville and Memphis, TN; Central Florida; Columbus, OH; Long Island, NY; Albuquerque, NM, Poughkeepsie, NY; and Minneapolis, MN.
• An annual "Summit to End Prostate Cancer" on Capitol Hill, where advocates from across the U.S. meet with elected officials to discuss prostate cancer and early detection testing. ZERO marked its 10th anniversary of this event in 2009. Funding for the two major avenues of prostate cancer research – The Prostate Cancer Research Program and the National Cancer Institute grants – has remained virtually flat for nearly a decade. The 2010 Summit will focus on effective strategies for increasing federal investment in prostate cancer research.
• Information resource and referral to the public and medical community on prostate cancer research through its website, ZeroCancer.org, and brochures, books, and a weekly electronic newsletter named AWARE.
• Prostate cancer awareness campaigns held each year such as the "Depend Campaign to End Prostate Cancer" in collaboration with the Kimberly-Clark Corporation, the "Know Your Score" golf tournament held in Pittsburgh, Toronto, Washington D.C. and Myrtle Beach, SC, and the annual "Prostate Cancer Awareness Month" proclamation issued in September by the U.S. President.
• Proceeds from the 2009 Great Prostate Cancer Challenge in Baltimore (GPCC) are used to support the American Urological Association Foundation Chesapeake Urology Scholar Fund. ZERO - The Project to End Prostate Cancer, in partnership with Chesapeake Urology Associates, PA donated $45,000 to the American Urological Association Foundation Chesapeake Urology Research Fund to award grants to prostate cancer research. To date, the GPCC race has contributed nearly $300,000 in scholarship monies to the AUA Foundation Chesapeake Urology Research Fund and has a goal of raising $750,000 in total. The AUA Foundation is the world's leading non-profit urological health organization and the official foundation of the American Urological Association. The AUA Foundation's mission is to promote health, provide hope and promise a future free of urological disease.
Media
ZERO’s spokespersons in past years have included Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, Bob Dole, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Lou Rawls, Ken Griffey, Sr., Len Dawson, Jesse Jackson Jr. and Jim Boeheim. The organization’s work has been recognized in publications such as USA Today, the Chicago Tribune, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Sentinel, and the New York Daily News.
ZERO supported other cancer organizations in 2009 in launching the "Stand Up to Cancer" awareness campaign featuring tennis pro John McEnroe, who encouraged men age 40 and older to get an annual prostate cancer check-up.