News from the Massachusetts Medical Society
Contact: Richard P. Gulla 781-434-7101 rgulla@mms.org
Physician Focus Television for April:
The Causes of Cancer
Waltham, Mass. – Cancer is perhaps the diagnosis that patients fear the most. It is the second leading cause of death in the U.S., surpassed only by heart disease, and claims nearly 600,000 lives each year. More than 1.6 million new cases of cancer are expected to be diagnosed in 2015, according to the American Cancer Society.
A recent study indicated that most cancers are the result of just “bad luck” in how our cells multiply and mutate, yet long-standing research shows that genetics, lifestyle issues, and environmental factors play important roles in causing cancer. Surveys, however, have indicated an alarming level of public misunderstanding and misperception about this disease.
To raise awareness about this common condition, the April episode of Physician Focus with the Massachusetts Medical Society features Robb Friedman, M.D., a board-certified oncologist and hematologist, Medical Director of The Cancer Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Needham, Mass. and an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Hosted by Dale Magee, M.D., a gynecologist in Shrewsbury, Mass. and a past president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, “The Causes of Cancer” examines how cancer develops, what patients can do to reduce their risks of getting the disease, and the steps patients can take to actually prevent some types of cancer from occurring.
Physician Focus is a noncommercial production of the Massachusetts Medical Society and Hopkinton (Mass.) Community Access Television, HCAM-TV. Now in its eleventh year, the monthly half-hour program brings viewers health and medical information on timely topics from physicians and other healthcare experts. Distributed as a public service, the program reaches more than 275 communities in Massachusetts each month through the courtesy of public access television stations. For details on the program, visit www.physicianfocus.org.
The Massachusetts Medical Society, with more than 24,000 physicians and student members, is dedicated to educating and advocating for the patients and physicians of Massachusetts. The Society, under the auspices of NEJM Group, publishes the New England Journal of Medicine, a leading global medical journal and web site, and NEJM Journal Watch alerts and publications covering 13 specialties. The Society is also a leader in continuing medical education for health care professionals throughout Massachusetts, conducting a variety of medical education programs for physicians and health care professionals. Founded in 1781, MMS is the oldest continuously operating medical society in the country.
HCAM-TV was founded April 1, 2004 by the Board of Selectmen of the Town of Hopkinton as a nonprofit corporation to manage local access to cable broadcast facilities. For information on HCAM, visit http://www.hcam.tv ###