The live town-hall meeting will be the first time patients and physicians have an international dialogue about cancer over the airwaves and will be the inaugural collaborative broadcast between Vital Options and The Group Room and The Royal Marsden Hospital and its in-house radio station, Radio Marsden. The Royal Marsden, the world’s oldest cancer hospital, is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year. The Group Room, the world’s largest cancer support group, is expanding to reach a global audience based on the success of a special taped broadcast last October from the European Society of Medical Oncology’s (ESMO) 25th Congress in Hamburg, Germany.

“This broadcast is also an important crossroad for Vital Options as we begin to address the global concerns that impact the worldwide cancer community, especially issues involving access to care and clinical trials,” said Selma R. Schimmel, host of The Group Room and Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Vital Options.

“Vital Options is developing key strategic partnerships with cancer treatment centers, physicians and advocacy groups throughout Europe,” added Schimmel. “With the addition of regular overseas broadcasts of The Group Room, we look forward to helping unify global research and advocacy efforts, as well as reaching new audiences and patients less familiar with the proactive medical consumer model we have in the United States.”

Joining Schimmel at the Jan. 28 broadcast will be Prof. Ian Smith, Consultant Medical Oncologist and Medical Director at The Royal Marsden, as well as other cancer experts from the Marsden and several other European nations.

“We are pleased to welcome Selma Schimmel and The Group Room to The Royal Marsden and look forward to taking part in the radio show’s first ever live broadcast from Europe,” said Smith. “By turning on the radio—or accessing the World Wide Web—patients dealing with cancer, as well as their families and friends, are able to gain much-needed information, advice and emotional support. We hope to share the expertise we have built up over the years as a leading specialist cancer center.”

The Royal Marsden is a specialist teaching hospital for cancer treatment, research and education with an international reputation for providing high-quality treatment and sensitive care. More than 30,000 patients attend the Royal Marsden each year, having been referred from throughout the UK and aboard.

Founded in 1983 when Schimmel was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 28, Vital Options was the first organization to address issues related to young adults with cancer before expanding to include issues and information related to everyone touched by cancer. In 2001, Vital Options was officially renamed Vital Options International to reflect its international expansion.

The Group Room broadcasts live every Sunday throughout the United States and reaches more than half-a-million listeners a week. Callers dial a toll-free number to enter discussions and speak directly with oncology specialists. The two-hour program, produced by Vital Options in association with Premiere Radio Networks, the largest radio network in the United States, is also simulcast worldwide via the Internet (www.vitaloptions.org). A book version of the radio show--“Cancer Talk—Voices of Hope and Endurance from ‘The Group Room,’ the World’s Largest Cancer Support Group”--was published in 1999 by Broadway Books, a division of Random House.

The public is invited to the broadcast. Those interested in attending should call the Marsden at 020-7808-2383 to pre-register.

Pharmacia Oncology, an existing corporate sponsor of The Group Room, is also the lead sponsor of Vital Options’ global expansion efforts. Additional sources of support are forthcoming.

Vital Options International is headquartered in Southern California. The Group Room is supported through educational grants from founding sponsor Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and corporate sponsors Ortho Biotech Inc., Pharmacia Oncology and Genentech BioOncology Inc.