New Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Web Site Educates Patients, Families, Professionals, and Public About One of the Most Aggressive of All Cancers

Free Resource, Developed by Survivors and Caregivers, Is Sponsored by
ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association.

Anaplastic thyroid cancer is a very rare and highly aggressive cancer. It is difficult to treat and has long been little understood.

Now, the newly launched Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer Web Site (www.thyca.org/atc) gives patients, families, and physicians ready access to key information about this disease, treatments, clinical trials, and critical decisions involved when first diagnosed with anaplastic thyroid cancer.

The new web site is sponsored by the national voluntary nonprofit organization ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. (www.thyca.org). The medical content receives ongoing review and input from ThyCa’s Medical Advisory Council of 22 nationally known thyroid cancer specialists, as well as from additional specialists with expertise in anaplastic thyroid cancer.

The web site’s authors are anaplastic survivors and caregivers whose first-hand experience with this disease led them to choose the site’s 16 topic areas. Many participants in the site’s development lost loved ones to this cancer. Some have taken part in ThyCa’s Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer e-mail support group since it began in 1997.

These volunteers chose topics they most wished they had understood when they or their loved ones were first diagnosed. Twelve of the 16 topics are now on the site; the others will be added this fall. In addition, the site will continue to expand and to add information on treatment, research, and support services.

“I am thrilled to see our ATC-related content on the ThyCa web site, thereby filling a void and heightening ATC awareness for patients, survivors, patients’ friends and families, and physicians,” says Bradley Rubin, ATC caregiver and coordinator of the site development project. “We wanted others to know what we wished we knew. Now, we can share our knowledge more broadly. This web site will continue to grow and will add key information. We invite further contributions. Future submissions can be e-mailed to thyca@thyca.org.”

To those who have lost a loved one to this disease, he adds, “You can all take comfort that this journey did not end in vain. We now have the base of a web site that those who follow can use as a starting point to make their unfortunate new journey easier than ours.”

“To those who are seeking support and information as a result of their own battle, or that of a loved one with ATC, welcome to this site and to our e-mail group,” says Cheri Wallace Lindle, ThyCa Board Member and founder in 1997 of the Anaplastic Thyroid Cancer E-mail Support Group. “I cannot thank Brad enough for putting his energy, time, and talent into this project.”

“Because anaplastic is one of the fastest-growing tumors, patients and families need current treatment information right away when they receive the diagnosis. That is the reason for this web site,” says Gary Bloom, ThyCa Board Chair. “This site is an important accomplishment and a highly useful tool in anaplastic thyroid cancer management.”

The new site is one of many free education and support services available from ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association (www.thyca.org).

ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors’ Association, Inc. is an all- volunteer, non- profit 501(c)(3) organization of thyroid cancer survivors, family members, and health care professionals, dedicated to support, education, and communication, as well as awareness for early detection, and thyroid cancer research fundraising and research grants.

ThyCa also sponsors Thyroid Cancer Awareness Month, and its annual international conference will be held this year on October 21-23, 2005, in Denver, Colorado.

For more information, call ThyCa at 1-877-588-7904, fax to 630-604-6078, send e-mail to thyca@thyca.org or visit www.thyca.org.