MAY 2024

It is less than a week until June, which means it’s time to sound the trumpets and get the word out for National Men’s Health Month. It also provides a perfect opportunity to remind the men in our lives to take charge of their health, especially when it comes to getting screened and tested for issues that can often be prevented or minimized when addressed early.   

For Fans for the Cure, our ambitious schedule for June will put us in front of hundreds of men. This includes a mix of free screenings, educational initiatives, and events that emphasize the importance of males going to the doctor. Highlights are a Father’s Day dinner in New Jersey with our friends at Jazz 4 Prostate Cancer Awareness, our second annual screening with the Mets and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital at Citi Field, and a road trip to Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, to honor the legacy of the Negro Leagues.  

June is also an ideal time to sign up for Catch for the Cure. Dust off the old Rawlings glove, invest in a bottle of Fiebing’s Neatsfoot Oil, recruit your favorite catch partner (father, mother, son, daughter, former American Legion catcher) and create a sign-up page over at my.fansforthecure.org/thecatch. It’s like a 10K run – without the running component. And by registering for a Catch for the Cure, you will be contributing to programs that support men and families as they deal with prostate cancer.  

We hope to see you at one or more of our events this summer. There is a calendar included in this newsletter, as well as a more complete and updated list on our website. 

Enjoy the weather.

All the best,

Ed Randall
Founder + Chief Advocacy Officer
Fans for the Cure

Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo, star of Mad Dog Radio and “Mad Dog Unleashed” on SiriusXM, will join our Founder, Ed Randall, for a wide-ranging discussion and audience Q&A on Tuesday, June 25. The conversation will take place at the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, at 7:30 PM. 

Tickets are now available – and can be purchased via the blue button below. All tickets are $25 through June 15, with remaining seats available for $35 starting on June 16 and at the door. All proceeds will help fund the regular schedule of programs of Fans for the Cure.  

For sponsorships, to donate tickets, and for possible VIP/Meet-and-Greet opportunities, please email us at [email protected].

It was our pleasure to welcome Dr. Michael Volpe to our most recent podcast to discuss what a urologist sees each day in clinical practice – besides prostate cancer. Answering questions from host Ed Randall, Dr. Volpe covered a wide range of health issues, particularly those which men might expect to experience upon reaching age 50 or 55.

Dr. Volpe also spoke about meeting his wife, Dr. Isabelle De Leon, in medical school, how they bonded by attending games together in the Yankee Stadium bleachers, and their fairy-tale story of currently watching their son, Anthony, play shortstop for their favorite team.  

Stay in the Game is available for subscription at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and wherever good podcasts are found.

Messiah Baptist Church will be hosting a session of prostate cancer awareness and education at the Yonkers Public Library on Saturday, June 29 from 10 AM until 1 PM. The library is located at 1 Larkin Center, directly across the street from the Yonkers Metro-North train station.  

The special guest presenter will be noted urologist, Dr. Gregory Joice of NewYork-Presbyterian/ColumbiaDoctors. Representatives of Fans for the Cure will also (briefly) address the group. Lunch will be served at approximately 12:15 PM.

Several area churches are joining Messiah Baptist Church to support this event. For more information, please email event organizer Harold McKoy at [email protected].

The setting will once again be (the newly-renovated) Smith & Wollensky in Chicago as Fans for the Cure honors two Chicago legends and true Hall of Famers on Wednesday, November 13, at our second Night on the River. 

Cubs’ great Ferguson Jenkins and Dr. William Catalona of Northwestern University will be cited for all they have done for their communities and in support of men on journeys with prostate cancer. Dr. Catalona was an early pioneer in nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy and is currently conducting research into the genetics of prostate cancer which holds promise in advancing the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of the disease.  

Thanks to our friends at Marquee Sports for their early support of this event. For details on sponsorship packages, please email us at [email protected].  

Individual tickets for the reception, which will include steakhouse favorites and adult beverages, will go on sale in mid June.

Fans for the Cure is pleased to be honoring NFL and broadcasting legend Phil Simms for over twenty years of work and advocacy on behalf of our charity. The dinner will take place at Thomas Keller’s per se Restaurant in New York City on Tuesday, October 29. 

Previous Visionary Dinner honorees have included Chef Keller, Islanders Co-Owner Jon Ledecky, and Scott Minerd of Guggenheim Partners.  

Please contact us at [email protected] with questions about this event or to inquire about early reservations. Tickets will go on sale to the public via our website in early June.

A diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer can have “significant negative impact on sexual health, affecting patients and their partners.” This paper discusses the development and validation of a questionnaire to measure sexual health in female partners of men with prostate cancer. Fans for the Cure’s Women’s/Caregivers’ Support Group took part in the validation study.   

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2588931124001135

June 13 (Thursday) – Mets screening at Citi Field with NewYork-Presbyterian – NYC and Queens. Mets vs. Marlins @ 7:10 PM, Piazza 31 Club. Screenings begin when gates open.

June 16 (Sunday) – Jazz 4 Dads, Celebration of Fathers and Men’s Wellness, East Windsor, NJ. Jazz, cocktails, buffet. 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM. More details: jazz4pca.org.

June 20 (Thursday) – Cardinals vs. Giants at Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama, former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues. Fans for the Cure has been invited to staff a table to distribute prostate cancer awareness materials. 5:30 gates, 7 PM first pitch.

June 23 (Sunday) – Cedar Rapids Kernels, screening with Mercy Hospital, Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 12 Noon. Fans are invited onto the field following the game for a catch. Baseballs donated by Rawlings. 

June 29 (Saturday) – Messiah Baptist Church, Prostate Cancer Awareness and Education Seminar, Yonkers Public Library, Yonkers, NY. 10 AM – to 1 PM.

July 13 (Saturday) – Uzo Felix Health Foundation Health Fair, Roosevelt, NY. 10 AM – 2 PM.

July 20 (Saturday) – Wiffle Ball Tournament (and Prostate Cancer Awareness Day), New York Athletic Club, Travers Island, Pelham, NY. 12:30 PM – 8 PM.

August 22 (Thursday) – Monroe Township Senior Softball League: Tournament for Prostate Cancer, Monroe Township, NJ (Details to come) – 5:30 PM – 10 PM

September 12 (Thursday) – Yankees screening at Yankee Stadium with Montefiore Einstein. Yankees vs. Red Sox @ 7:05 PM. Located on 200 level. Screenings begin when gates open.

September 15 (Sunday) – NYU Prostate Cancer Seminar – Mineola, NY.  8 AM – to 12 PM (lunch included).

1. European Association of Urology (EAU) paper on Fatigue in Prostate Cancer: A Roundtable Discussion. The paper was promoted on EUA social channels and you’re welcome to re-share (Twitter: fatigue in PCa patients; LinkedIn: fatigue in PCa patients).
2. EAU video on shared decision making (SDM), which provides patients and caregivers with a clear understanding of the principles of SDM and empowers them to actively participate in their care journey. The video, posted to YouTube also educates healthcare professionals on the Why and How of SDM: Shared decision-making.
3. Paper on Treatment-Related Cognitive Impairment in Patients with Prostate Cancer. The paper was promoted through Bayer's social channel: Bayer Oncology IG Treatment-Related CI.

Note: the previous resources were supported and shared by Bayer, with subjects chosen based on input from the patient community. Should there be prostate cancer subjects you wish to be addressed and supported in depth, write to us at [email protected].

Once his fully-booked June wraps up, Ed Randall has shared that he would be happy to have a summer Catch for the Cure with you in the NYC area. Get in touch at [email protected], and let’s work out a time and a place that works with everybody’s schedules. Ed previously announced that he will be available to have a catch (or twelve) at the Wiffle Ball Tournament in Westchester on July 20.  

Ed has stipulated the following rules: there will be no pitch counts, no pitch clocks, and no robot umpires. 

Note: we are currently in the process of applying for permits for a “Catch It Early” prostate cancer awareness event  on Sunday, September 29, at a NYC park from 8 – 11 AM. We again plan to hand out Spaulding Hi-Bounce balls (or “Spaldeens”) for kids and kids at heart. Stay tuned.

Both of our online support groups are free and open to all men and women respectively, with registration required.

Men's Support Group

• Thursday, May 30 at 7 PM ET – Register for the Men's Support Group meeting. 
• Thursday, June 13 at 7 PM ET

Women's Support Group

• Tuesday, June 18 at 8 PM ET – Register for the Women's Support Group meeting. (NOTE: There is no meeting on June 4.)

Fans for the Cure allows attendees to register for only the immediately upcoming online support group meeting. Thanks for understanding our desire to keep our meetings safe, secure, and private.

We thank Bayer for generously underwriting the technical and production costs associated with Fans for the Cure’s Online Men’s and Women’s/Caregivers’ Support Groups.

Over the past twenty years, Fans for the Cure has been fortunate to develop a strong network of trusted doctors, many of whom practice at NCI-Designated Cancer Centers. We are always available to assist you in finding a prostate cancer-focused physician or multidisciplinary team to guide you and your loved ones through all phases of the disease.

For timely referrals in all fifty states and Canada, please get in touch with us at (888) 301-4414 or via the orange button below. We promise to get back to you within twenty-four hours at the very latest.

In this section, we share links to blog posts, news articles, medical journals, books, and other items that we think will be of interest to you.

1. Why I Told the World I Was Living With Cancer by Jeremy Kelligar
2. Plant-Based Foods May Reduce Risk of Prostate Cancer Progression
3. ‘Seinfeld’ star Michael Richards reveals he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2018
4. PSA Screening in Black Men: Disparities Post-Pandemic
5. Sexual Well-Being in the Female Partners of Patients With Prostate Cancer

Historical records and evidence has shown that too many men still have not resumed their annual health screening appointments with their physicians at pre-Covid levels. Fewer doctor visits have directly led to a higher percentage of advanced stage cancers in general at initial diagnosis. Please give today to help us connect with as many men and their families as possible during June. Help us spread the message that early detection of prostate cancer leads to best outcomes.

Call us: 888-301-4414