Actress Valerie Harper Encourages Others to Stay Alive, Stay Fighting at 1st Annual GBM Heroes Event Hosted by CURE Media Group

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS November 21, 2015 -- Award-winning actress and cancer survivor Valerie Harper last night encouraged her audience at the first annual Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) Heroes Awards ceremony to “stay alive, stay fighting and continue on this amazing path of new ideas for treating and conquering cancer.” The event honoring heroes in the fight against brain cancer was hosted by CURE Media Group, publishers of CURE® magazine, the guide to every stage of the cancer experience.

“Cancer is a dual journey. It is medical, and it is emotional, and it’s the advocates who have dedicated their lives to help others that we’re honoring today,” said Kathy LaTour, herself a two-time cancer survivor, who introduced each of the heroes at the awards ceremony held in San Antonio, Texas, during the 20th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Society of Neuro-Oncology. The event was sponsored by Novocure.

Four honorees were recognized for their selfless contributions in the field of GBM, the most aggressive and most common form of primary brain cancer in the U.S., or in the individual lives of people with GBM. They are:

• Greg Cantwell, the founder of Greg’s Mission, an advocacy group based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa;
• Dr. Sherry Fox, director of Quality of Life Programs and Services at the Cullather Brain Tumor Quality of Life Center in Richmond, Va.;
• Dr. Santosh Kesari, chair of the Department of Translational Neuro-Oncology and Neurotherapeutics at the John Wayne Cancer Institute and director of Neuro-Oncology at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, Calif., and
• Rick Sontag, an entrepreneur who has dedicated his time and resources to improving the lives of patients with GBM and other brain tumors. The Sontag Foundation is based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.

“Each GBM hero is nominated by patients and caregivers for heroic contributions to the field of glioblastoma research or in the individual lives of people with glioblastoma,” said Mike Hennessy Jr., president of Intellisphere Oncology and Healthcare Specialty Group, part of the Plainsboro, N.J.-based Michael J. Hennessy Associates, Inc., family of businesses. “Their passion and indomitable spirit in making a difference in the lives of patients are an inspiration to us all.”

Harper, best known for her character Rhoda Morgenstern on the 1970s sitcoms "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Rhoda," credits her medical team and new targeted therapies for her ability to first survive lung cancer, and then, for the last three years, to keep at bay the disease’s spread to the meninges surrounding her brain, a rare condition. She continues to advocate for cancer research funding and greater awareness of lung cancer risk, particularly for women, through her work with the advocacy group LUNG FORCE.

For more photos from last night’s event and to learn more about the program, please visit the CURE website at http://www.curetoday.com/events/gbm. To receive additional information, stories and advice along your cancer journey, visit http://www.curetoday.com and subscribe to receive updates.

About CURE Media Group

CURE Media Group’s flagship product, CURE magazine, is the indispensable guide to every stage of the cancer experience. With nearly 1 million readers, CURE is the largest consumer publication in the United States focused entirely on cancer, with broad distribution to cancer patients, cancer centers and advocacy groups. CURE Media Group’s offerings also include its online resource, curetoday.com; live meetings; a resource guide for the newly diagnosed; and the Extraordinary Healer™ national nursing award. CURE Media Group combines science and humanity to make cancer understandable. CURE Media Group is part of the Plainsboro, N.J.-based Michael J. Hennessy Associates, Inc., family of businesses, which includes the acclaimed OncLive® (http://www.onclive.com) platform of resources for the practicing oncologist. For more information, visit http://www.curetoday.com or http://www.mjhassoc.com.

About Novocure

Novocure is a Jersey Isle oncology company pioneering a novel therapy for solid tumors called TTFields. Novocure’s U.S. operations are based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and New York, New York. Additionally, the company has offices in Germany, Switzerland and Japan, and a research center in Haifa, Israel. For additional information about the company, please visit http://www.novocure.com or follow us at http://www.twitter.com/novocure.

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Media Contacts:

For CURE Media Group: Becky Taylor, 609-240-6886, becky(at)btaylorpa.com