WASHINGTON, April 4, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- When the critically acclaimed A LION IN THE HOUSE documentary aired on PBS stations in 2006, the film galvanized public attention for childhood cancer by following the stories of five courageous children and their families. Now, LION's producers are being honored in Washington for going the next step - by creating new educational tools so oncologists, families and caregivers will be better prepared to handle the stresses that can tear a family apart.
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In conjunction with the 11th Biennial Symposium on Minorities, The Medically Underserved & Cancer hosted by the Intercultural Cancer Council in Washington, DC, LION producers Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert, Melissa Godoy, and Karen Durgans will receive the prestigious "Susan Matsuko Shinagawa Livestrong Cancer Control Leadership Award" at an award ceremony on April 4. The award recognizes the contributions of the LION team in creating a series of video modules for use by nurses, physicians and mental health professionals that use stories from the LION documentary to address survivorship issues.
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Each year, more than 12,500 children and adolescents are diagnosed and over 40,000 are treated for a childhood cancer. Since the 1950s, cure rates for pediatric cancer have risen from less than 10 percent to nearly 80 percent, but childhood cancer remains the leading cause of death by disease in the United States. Of the 230,000 long-term survivors of childhood cancer, two-thirds of children will experience long-term and often life threatening side effects.
"Today, the ability to successfully treat childhood cancers has improved dramatically, but consequences of this tremendous success are the "late effects" of being treated for cancer, which affect survivors' long-term health and quality of life," said Jay Silver, ICC's Executive Director. "The lasting contribution of A LION IN THE HOUSE is providing the tools so all members of the healthcare team and family members will learn about the importance of long-term follow-up care for survivors of a childhood cancer."
A co-production of the Independent Television Service (ITVS), which funds and promotes independent films in the U.S. and presents them on PBS, A LION IN THE HOUSE was one of the most well reviewed films of 2006, received the Emmy Award in 2007 for the best television documentary and awards at the most important documentary film festivals, was featured at 100 public events, and directly reached almost 2 million viewers through PBS stations coast to coast. Extending the film's impact, the insights from the documentary have been turned into a companion book now available in bookstores, a DVD and three Web sites.
A LION IN THE HOUSE is also inspiring action through three Web sites: www.mylion.org, where youth can learn about ways to do community service projects that make a difference for peers, children, & families, including siblings, fighting cancer; www.survivoralert.org, where childhood and young adult cancer survivors & caregivers learn about the risks for late effects, available resources, & the skills survivors can use to take control of their health; & www.lioninthehouse.com, where more information about the educational modules and other LION tools is available.
Taking place in Washington from April 3-6, the ICC symposium is being attended by more than 1,000 cancer advocates, researchers, clinicians, policy makers, and minority health leaders.
The Intercultural Cancer Council is an advocacy organization whose mission is to advance policies, programs, partnerships and research to eliminate the unequal burden of cancer among racial and ethnic minorities and medically underserved populations.
