"Spit for the Cure" at the "Race for the Cure"

BUFFALO, NY — In collaboration with the 2010 Susan G. Komen Western New York Race for the Cure, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center will collect saliva specimens for its Data Bank and BioRepository (DBBR) at the June 12 race.

One of only a few resources of its kind in the country, the DBBR at Roswell Park stores health information and specimen data from people with and without cancer. It provides researchers, who work to develop treatments and early-detection tools, with data that may help identify risk factors and reveal why some people develop cancer and others do not.

The “Spit for the Cure” effort on June 12 will see DBBR staff, working in a tent in Delaware Park, collecting saliva samples, from which genetic information can be extracted. Participants must be 18 years of age and will be asked to complete a health history questionnaire. For more information about “Spit for the Cure,” contact Gregory Ciupak at 716-845-8863 or gregory.ciupak@roswellpark.org.

About Komen for the Cure: Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end breast cancer forever. In 1982, that promise became Susan G. Komen for the Cure and launched the global breast cancer movement. The Western New York Affiliate has invested $3 million in community breast health programs in 8 counties. For more information, call 716-580-3119 or visit www.komenwny.org.

About Roswell Park: The mission of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center is to understand, prevent and cure cancer. Roswell Park, founded in 1898, was one of the first cancer centers in the country to be named a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center and remains the only facility with this designation in Upstate New York. The Institute is a member of the prestigious National Comprehensive Cancer Network, an alliance of the nation’s leading cancer centers; maintains affiliate sites; and is a partner in national and international collaborative programs. For more information, visit Roswell Park’s website at http://www.roswellpark.org, call 1-800-ROSWELL (1-800-767-9355) or email AskRoswell@Roswellpark.org.

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