ZERO—The Project to End Prostate Cancer
ZERO - The Project to End Prostate Cancer is a national, not-for-profit health care organization based in Washington, D.C.
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Area Served: United States
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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.
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.
Other activities sponsored by ZERO – The Project to End Prostate Cancer include: • The DASH FOR DAD and Great Prostate Cancer Challenge national race series. In 2009, the series held races in the Washington, DC metro area; Baltimore, MD; Buffalo, NY; Harrisburg, PA; Indianapolis, IN; Kansas City, MO; and Memphis, TN • An annual summit on Capitol Hill each year, 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. • 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. • 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, and the annual "Prostate Cancer Awareness Month" proclamation issued in September by the U.S. President.
Media
ZERO’s spokespersons in past years have included Rudy Giuliani, Donald Trump, Bob Dole, Dr. Joyce Brothers, Lou Rawls, Ken Griffey, 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 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.