Published by Vital Options® International TeleSupport® Cancer Network with an educational grant from Pharmacia Oncology, The Professor & The Survivor brochure takes a new, human message and global approach in describing the clinical trials process. It presents key questions and issues for patients to address with their doctors, as well as information about potential benefits and risks to patients, protection of patient rights, the importance of being both informed and proactive, and additional resources. The brochure includes a historical breast cancer timeline of significant discoveries and treatment advances. The Professor & The Survivor brochure series will also be translated into multiple foreign languages.

"This new series of clinical trials brochures is designed to help humanize the clinical trials message, facilitate a dialogue between patients and their doctors, help mobilize advocacy and inspire investigators worldwide to choose careers in cancer research," said Selma R. Schimmel, CEO and founder of Vital Options International and host of the nationally syndicated radio call-in cancer talk show, The Group Room®. "While this first brochure is focused on breast cancer, Vital Options will publish and tailor subsequent ones for other cancer types featuring different professors and survivors."

The Professor & The Survivor concept was inspired by Schimmel's meeting with Dr. Gianni Bonadonna two years ago when Pharmacia Oncology invited her to host an event, Celebrating Survival, at the annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium. It was a moving and emotional meeting between cancer survivor Schimmel and the "professor," Bonadonna, who pioneered breast cancer adjuvant therapy with CMF (cytoxin, 5FU, methotrexate), which Schimmel had received as a 28-year-old breast cancer patient in 1983, two years before it was approved for standard therapy in the United States. The meeting also resulted in this newest Vital Options cancer communications project.

"A clinical trial is a collaborative journey and partnership between a patient and the doctor," said Bonadonna, President of the Michelangelo Foundation on Cancer Research and Chair of Prospective Clinical Trials at the Istituto Tumori in Milan, Italy. "Always at the core is hope and the ability to gain and sustain a patient's trust and confidence when participating in a clinical trial."

"Today's clinical trials are tomorrow's standard of care," added Gabriel Leung, Head, Global Oncology Franchise, Pharmacia Corp. "It is through collaborations such as The Professor & The Survivor that we are able to help raise awareness of cancer clinical trials and minimize misconceptions, ultimately making a difference in treatment outcomes."

The brochures will be distributed to advocacy organizations and physicians' offices. It can also be accessed at www.professorandsurvivor.org or www.vitaloptions.org.

Vital Options® International is a not-for-profit cancer communications, support and advocacy organization headquartered in southern California. In addition to The Group Room® and The Professor & The Survivor, other Vital Options projects include CancerTalk™, an in-flight audio program on American and Northwest airlines produced in association with Sky Radio, and The Cancer NewsMinute™, a cancer news radio feature. Pharmacia is also a corporate sponsor of The Group Room and an associate sponsor of Vital Options' expansion into Europe.

Pharmacia Corporation (NYSE: PHA) is a top-tier global pharmaceutical company with a leading agricultural subsidiary. Pharmacia's innovative medicines and other products save lives and enhance health and wellness. Pharmacia's 59,000 people work together with many diverse stakeholders to bring these benefits to people around the world, and to create new health solutions for the future.