Thousands join research quest

Every September for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, thousands join The Long Run to raise vital funds for groundbreaking research and clinical trials to help make prostate cancer history.

As Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia’s pinnacle event, The Long Run encourages Australians to run, walk or wheel 72km in an effort to collectively cover the distance to the moon (384,400km) and raise vital funds for support services and research.

With 66 people diagnosed every day, prostate cancer has overtaken breast cancer as Australia’s leading cause of cancer. This year alone, more than 24,000 people are expected to be diagnosed with the disease.

PCFA CEO Anne Savage said “The Long Run had already paved the way for vital research and will continue to provide funding for life-saving work”.

“With increasing numbers of people being diagnosed and nearly 10 dying from prostate cancer every single day, we need to be taking action and investing in research that could save lives,” Ms Savage said.

“Funds raised from The Long Run are instrumental to our ongoing partnership with ANZUP - a cancer cooperative trials group - and the ground-breaking work we are achieving together.

“This includes the world-first ANZUP-led EVOLUTION Phase II Clinical Trial which commenced earlier this year.”

“This trial will go beyond where any other trial has gone before, exploring the next frontier in precision nuclear medicine for prostate cancer, combining Lu-PSMA with immunotherapy, which we think will be a gamechanger in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.”

“We are on the verge of a complete transformation in prostate cancer treatment, giving people with the most aggressive and deadly forms of this disease a greater hope of survival.”

“This work is only made possible with the support of the community so we’re asking those who want to take part in ‘The Long Run,’ to run, walk or wheel 72km during September to help make prostate cancer history.” – Anne Savage

More than 240,000 Australians have now been diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime – a figure set to increase by 43 per cent by 2040.

“We’ve come a long way – increasing survival rates to 95 per cent, but we will not stop until we defeat prostate cancer,” Ms Savage said.

Australians can join The Long Run via

thelongrun.org.au.

For information call PCFA on 1800 22 00 99 or go to www.pcfa.org.au.