The Group Room® Cancer Talk Show Now Seen and Not Just Heard at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Vital Options International, best known for The Group Room, the nationally syndicated weekly call-in cancer talk radio show, is now producing all of its content in video and will launch a new format for the show and also present its newest program, Advocacy in Action^®, from the 46th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago, IL, June 4-8, 2010. The annual ASCO meeting is the world’s premier scientific event for oncology professionals and attracts more than 30,000 cancer specialists from around the world.

“Technology and research is dramatically changing the way we diagnose and treat cancer. A visual medium allows us to portray these advances and maximize our reach to the greatest number of people.”

Vital Options is a not-for-profit cancer communications organization and in its new format, has expanded its distribution channel by providing oncology video content free of charge to the advocate community and related organizations.

“This year’s ASCO theme, ‘Advancing Quality Through Innovation,’ is core to Vital Options’ mission, ‘to facilitate a global cancer dialogue,’” says Vital Options founder and CEO, Selma Schimmel, who is also a cancer survivor. “Technology and research is dramatically changing the way we diagnose and treat cancer. A visual medium allows us to portray these advances and maximize our reach to the greatest number of people.”

"We are pleased that The Group Room will hold its first video broadcast from the floor of ASCO’s Annual Meeting this year,” said Nicholas J. Petrelli, MD, Chair of ASCO's Cancer Communications Committee and Medical Director of the Helen F. Graham Cancer Center at Christiana Care. “The Group Room’s efforts to highlight and offer insight on the research presented at the Annual Meeting is extremely beneficial to people living with cancer.”

Topics to be discussed will include:

• Breast cancer and ASCO highlights with Eric P. Winer, MD, Thompson Senior Investigator in Breast Cancer Research, Director, Breast Oncology Center, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Immediate Past Chair of ASCO's Cancer Communications Committee;
• Gastrointestinal cancers with Jennifer C. Obel, MD, Medical Oncologist, NorthShore University Health System, Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL; Member of ASCO's Cancer Communications Committee;
• Prostate and urologic cancers with Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD, Vice Chair SWOG GU committee, Chair and Medical Director, Developmental Therapeutics and Member, GU Committee, US Oncology Research, Comprehensive Cancer Centers of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV; Member of ASCO’s Cancer Communications Committee;
• Lung cancer with Ronald H. Blum, MD, Professor of Medicine, Albert Einstein College of Medicine; Director, Cancer Centers and Programs, Beth Israel Medical Center and St. Luke's Roosevelt Hospital Center, NYC; ASCO Chair-Elect, Education Products Subcommittee; Cancer.Net Specialty Editor.

A series of interviews with key opinion leaders will also be featured, further highlighting sessions and abstract presentations.

In addition to The Group Room^® talk show, Vital Options will produce Advocacy in Action^®, a new show that brings together influential leaders of the cancer advocacy community to address the core issues that impact cancer survivorship today. Joining Selma Schimmel to co-moderate this ASCO special will be Diane Blum, Editor-in-Chief of Cancer.Net, with opening remarks regarding the paradigm shift from treatment to survivorship from Thomas Sellers, President & CEO of the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS). Along with 25 noted advocates, the discussion will focus on value vs. cost in cancer treatment, the transformation of healthcare and cancer—are decisions being made without patients, the future of cancer research, and how new media and technology are influencing clinical practice and consumer and patient education.

Content produced at ASCO is done as a collaborative effort with Cancer.Net at www.cancer.net, providing oncologist-vetted cancer information to help individuals make informed health care decisions.

All content will be available for viewing at www.vitaloptions.org and www.thegrouproom.tv. Other organizations interested in obtaining content may contact Vital Options at [e-mail].

The special ASCO programs are made possible, in part, through support from Genentech BioOncology, Lilly Oncology, and Novartis Oncology.

Vital Options International is a not-for-profit 510(c)(3) headquartered in Southern California, with a European division based in France at the American Hospital of Paris and production partners as Radio Marsden, Royal Marsden Hospital, London. Founded in 1983 as the first psychosocial and advocacy organization for young adults with cancer, Vital Options expanded into an international cancer communications organization with the launch of The Group Room^® in 1996. Vital Options is noted for its pioneering and innovative approaches in using media technology to advocate and communicate about cancer. In addition to The Group Room, Vital Options produces The CancerNewsMinute^®, CancerTalk^SM, OncoTalk^TM, CancerTours^TM, and Advocacy in Action^®. Programs are regularly produced from leading US and European oncology meetings. Vital Options is about to launch the Vital Options Health Network at www.vohealthnetwork.org.