Super Colon educates increases cancer awareness

Throughout the month of March, the Super Colon will serve as an educational tool to increase the public's understanding of the importance of colorectal cancer screening.

This month, an 8-foot tall, 20-foot long replica of a human colon will stand tall in Pittsburgh, PA; Columbus, OH; Baltimore, MD; Albuquerque, NM; and Washington, D.C. as part of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and the 2006 Super Colon Tour.

Throughout the month of March, the Super Colon will serve as an educational tool to increase the public's understanding of the importance of colorectal cancer screening. Colorectal cancer is 90 percent preventable and successfully treated 90 percent of the time when detected early, yet it continues to be the second leading cancer killer for men and women combined.

The Super Colon is an incredible, inflatable, interactive tool that teaches people about the risks, symptoms, prevention, early detection and treatment options for colorectal cancer.

"The Super Colon is a unique way to reach people with the message that colorectal cancer is Preventable, Treatable and Beatable!," said Carolyn Aldigé, president and founder of the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation. "The exhibit opens many people's eyes to the fact that they should know their family history, talk to their health care professional about colorectal cancer and get screened if they are 50 years of age or older."

"Colorectal cancer will claim the lives of nearly 56,000 people in the United States this year alone", said Isabelle Mercier, Sr. Director, Oncology Marketing at sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC, the pharmaceutical company sponsoring the event. In 2006, the American Cancer Society estimated that nearly 148,610 Americans would be diagnosed with colorectal cancer. "Raising awareness of the importance of early detection through screening is critical if we are to make a difference in fighting this disease," added the sanofi-aventis senior director.

The Super Colon stops coincide with the following dates:

- Pittsburgh, PA February 21 and 22, 2006

- Columbus, OH March 1 and 2, 2006

- Baltimore, MD March 17, 2006

- Albuquerque, NM March 21 and 22, 2006

- Washington, D.C. March 25, 2006

For more information about the location of the Super Colon, please refer to www.preventcancer.org

The Super Colon is brought to you by the Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation and sponsored by sanofi-aventis U.S. LLC.

For more information about the colorectal cancer prevention and colorectal cancer prevention month, check out: www.preventcancer.org

The Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation, was started in 1985 when Founder and President Carolyn Aldigé first understood the power of prevention to defeat cancer - and recognized that too few of the country's resources were used to promote cancer prevention research or education. Today, it is one of the nation's leading health organizations and has catapulted cancer prevention to prominence.

Since its inception the Foundation has provided more than $74 million in support of cancer prevention and early detection research and education programs. CRPF peer-reviewed grants have been awarded to more than 250 scientists from more than 150 of the leading academic medical centers nationwide. This research has been pivotal in developing a body of knowledge that is the basis for important cancer prevention and early detection strategies.