Stand Up to Cancer

History

Stand Up To Cancer was conceived of in autumn 2007, by a group of women who had been affected by cancer and believe that by merging the recourse of the media and entertainment industries into a single operation they would be able to fight against this disease in a more profound way.

Stand Up To Cancer was formally launched on May 27, 2008. Current members of the SU2C Council of Founders and Advisors (CFA) include Katie Couric, Sherry Lansing, Kathleen Lobb, Lisa Paulsen, Rusty Robertson, Sue Schwartz, Pamela Oas Williams, and Ellen Ziffren. All current members of the CFA were co-producers of the 2012 televised special. The late co-founder Laura Ziskin executive produced both the September 5, 2008 and September 10, 2010 broadcasts. Sung Poblete, Ph.D., R.N., has served as SU2C’s president and CEO since 2011. In the United Kingdom, Channel 4, along with Cancer Research UK, launched its own version of Stand Up To Cancer in October 2012 and again in 2014.

Initiative

Stand Up To Cancer aims to raise awareness and bring about an understanding that everyone is connected by cancer. The statistic used most often by SU2C is from the American Cancer Society: one out of every two men and one out of every three women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, meaning everyone is affected in some way, or will be.

The campaign has featured televised moments during World Series baseball games where fans literally "stand up to cancer" by rising and holding signs inscribed with the names of friends and loved ones who have struggled with the disease.

Research teams funded

SU2C has donated hundreds of millions of dollars since the first "Dream Team" was organized in 2009. The "Dream Teams" funded by SU2C brings researchers together from institutions and universities across the world and have been among the most productive collaborations in getting new drugs to market and many teams are funded jointly with other cancer research organizations. The research is required to be translational and include laboratory and clinical members and cannot involve more than one principal investigator from each institution.

USA

Four telethons have been broadcast in USA and are made available to more than 190 countries. To date, more than $261 million has been pledged to support SU2C’s innovative cancer research programs.

The first Stand Up to Cancer event was held on September 5, 2008, raising over $100 million. The second was held on 10 September 2010. The third was held on 7 September 2012, and the fourth was held on 5 September 2014, presented by Gwyneth Paltrow and Katie Couric from Los Angeles. The fifth was held on 9 September 2016. The averaged combined ratings for the 2014 telethon were 1.8 from 2.1 in 2012.

In Canada, the 2014 telethon aired September 5, 2014 in simultaneous substitution (in many areas) with the American telethon, simultaneously on English language networks CBC Television, City, CTV and Global, as well as CHCH-DT in Hamilton, Ontario, CHEK-DT Victoria, British Columbia, and specialty channels TLN, Fight Network, Gusto TV, AMI-TV and the Hollywood Suite channels. The Canadian broadcast of the telethon benefits EIF Canada, the Canadian arm of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, with all donations benefiting cancer research in Canada.

UK

On 19 October 2012, the Channel 4 network in the United Kingdom aired their first telethon for Stand Up To Cancer hosted by Davina McCall and Alan Carr along with Dr. Christian Jessen. A second telethon was broadcast on 17 October 2014, again hosted by McCall and Carr along with Dr. Jessen.

Stand Up To Cancer's fundraising activities in the UK include the London 3 Peaks Challenge, which involves participants running up the stairs of Heron Tower, 30 St Mary Axe and 200 Aldersgate before abseiling down the outside of 200 Aldersgate.