-- breastcancer.org and Lifetime Television Join Forces To Unveil New Information Tool --

Los Angeles, CA-- Imagine being told you have stage IIIB invasive ductal carcinoma and your doctor recommends undergoing neoadjuvant therapy. What do you say? Where do you start? How can you talk to your doctor when you can’t even understand the words used to describe your diagnosis and treatment?

Just listen to Olivia Newton-John, Regis & Kelly, Martina Navratilova and about 40 other celebrities. These celebrities have contributed their voices to the “Celebrity Talking Dictionary,” a new initiative launched today by breastcancer.org in partnership with Lifetime Television. Now women can log onto www.breastcancer.org to hear celebrities explain – in plain English – 500 complex medical terms associated with breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. 

“The words doctors use to describe breast cancer diagnosis and treatment are like a foreign language, and there often isn’t enough time to figure out what they mean when the average doctor’s visit is less than 10 minutes,” said Dr. Marisa C. Weiss, practicing oncologist and founder of breastcancer.org. “As a breast cancer doctor, I constantly hear women express shock, anxiety, and confusion about all the urgent decisions they face. Many lack the medical vocabulary and confidence to fully participate in discussions with their doctors because they can’t recognize, understand, and say the words their doctors use.”

breastcancer.org gives women the words they need to understand their breast cancer diagnosis and ask for the best treatments available. The caring and powerful voices of the celebrity team give much needed comfort and encouragement at a time when women feel helpless and alone. 

The Dictionary is one of many resources that breastcancer.org provides on its Web site, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It was launched today at a gala press event at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles in partnership with Lifetime Television. 

“Women and their families need to have access to helpful information to enable them to get through a heavy and tough diagnosis. breastcancer.org is the premiere place to get that information and the talking dictionary is essential to this support for women,” said Mary Dixon, vice president of public affairs, Lifetime Television.

Visitors can go to www.breastcancer.org to hear 40 celebrities including:

• Courteney Cox Arquette defining sentinel lymph node dissection
• Celine Dion explaining carcinoma in situ
• Ann Curry describing selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs)

breastcancer.org also will be producing a CD that will include all of the celebrities’ voices. The discs will be distributed to health care providers who can share them with their patients.

The Celebrity Talking Dictionary currently features 40 well-known celebrities, including Rosa Blasi; Erin Brockovich; Tom Brokaw; Katie Couric; Courteney Cox Arquette; Ann Curry; Dana Delany; Celine Dion; Linda Ellerbee; Peggy Fleming; Peri Gilpin; Whoopi Goldberg; Lauren Graham; Kelsey Grammer; Marvin Hamlisch; Valerie Harper; David Hyde Pierce; Iman; Laura Innes; Shirley Jones; Larry King; Jane Leeves; Jenifer Lewis; Judith Light; Susan Lucci; John Mahoney; Constance Marie; Jo Dee Messina; Megan Mullally; Martina Navratilova; Olivia Newton-John; Regis Philbin; Judith Reichmann, M.D.; Patricia Richardson; Kelly Ripa; Al Roker; Ray Romano; Willard Scott; Elaine Stritch; Paula Zahn. 

breastcancer.org’s mission is to help women and their loved ones make sense of the complex medical and personal information about breast cancer so they can make the best decisions for their lives. breastcancer.org empowers women to communicate with their doctors and take an active part in their treatment. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, breastcancer.org offers reliable, complete and up-to-date medical information as well as a vibrant online community that includes discussion boards and weekly online chats with leading breast cancer experts. For additional information, please visit www.breastcancer.org.

breastcancer.org: Your Rx for information, hope and support twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

LIFETIME is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated basic cable television networks. A diverse, multi-media company, LIFETIME is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. In September 2003 Lifetime was awarded the prestigious Governors Award from The Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) for its advocacy on its “Stop Violence Against Women” initiative. LIFETIME Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women and Lifetime Online, are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of The Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company, as is Lifetime magazine, which debuted in April 2003.

This program is sponsored in part by an unrestricted educational grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb Oncology.

Published:9-30-2003