ZERO PROSTATE CANCER

ZERO — The End of Prostate Cancer is the leading national nonprofit with the mission to end prostate cancer. Losing a man we love every 17 minutes to prostate cancer is unacceptable. We envision a future with zero prostate cancer deaths and an end to pain and suffering from the disease. We are uniting men and families impacted by the disease to make ending it a national priority. By advancing research, improving lives, and inspiring action, we're building Generation ZERO, the first generation of men free from prostate cancer.

--Research - ZERO serves to protect and grow the largest resource of prostate cancer research funding in the nation. Now infusing $110M in research grants annually, the Department of Defense's Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) has generated three new treatments for late-stage disease and a new genomic tool in the last six years. ZERO spearheaded the creation of the program 20 years ago and within the past year, grew the program by $10M by hosting the annual ZERO Prostate Cancer Summit - where passionate patients, survivors, family members, and loved ones gather in Washington, D.C. to fight for making prostate cancer research and access to care a priority within our federal government.
--Local Impact - Our Summit serves as a catalyst and helps drive action beyond D.C. back in local communities year-round. ZERO Chapters are building vibrant communities of advocates, activists, and volunteers - all champions who come together in the fight against prostate cancer. Established in several regions around the country, ZERO's Chapters are part of the fabric of these communities - offering education and support. We host our national ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk, the largest men's health event series in America, in 40 cities across the country. Prostate cancer has a 99 percent survival rate when caught early and each event raises significant awareness and funds local research, education, and support programs. ZERO has granted more than $10M to support local organizations that work tirelessly to end prostate cancer.
--Support - Ending prostate cancer also means stopping the pain and suffering endured by millions of patients and their families. Fighting cancer is difficult enough. No man should also have to fight for adequate and affordable care. ZERO provides support programs, such as ZERO360, MENtor, ZERO Connect and more. These programs help alleviate the often devastating medical, financial, and emotional impacts that come with a prostate cancer diagnosis through direct assistance, case management, and community building. ZERO supports community partners to host free testing programs and manages a nationwide testing database while operating a patient navigator program where case managers give each patient comprehensive assistance.

--Research - With a vast and diverse network of cause champions, ZERO matches patients, doctors, researchers, and government agencies together to better understand the importance of research on improving health outcomes for the disease; assisting to direct research grants appropriately.
--Local Impact - The ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk is a friendly welcome into local communities dedicated to raising awareness for prostate cancer. We invite those impacted by the disease to take an active role in each community through volunteerism at health fairs, mentoring newly diagnosed patients, and educating their networks about early detection. Our volunteers strive to be ZERO Champions - community leaders tasked with raising awareness and recruiting advocates.
--Support - With more than 80 percent of men saying they needed more help at diagnosis and 40 percent of patients not even knowing what stage of the disease they're in, ZERO launched the ZERO360: Comprehensive Patient Support program to provide free, customized assistance to men with prostate cancer. This unique program, the only case management program exclusively for men with prostate cancer, helps patients overcome access to care obstacles and understand their disease better. In complement to ZERO360, the organization, with its expert staff and medical advisory board, serves as a powerful and comprehensive resource for information from diagnosis to survivorship. Other ZERO programs, such as MENtor and ZERO Connect aim to build community and dialogue around this awful disease. Further, we invest in a variety of content to appeal to different audiences with videos, webinars, social media, brochures, fact sheets, e-newsletters, and podcasts.

With the hard work and passion from our champions, we have made amazing progress by reducing prostate cancer deaths by 35 percent since ZERO was founded in 1997 and tripled the relative 15-year survival rate to 76 percent.
Specifically, ZERO has:
-- Led advocacy efforts to create and infuse more than $1.5B in research funding for the Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP), which has generated three life-changing treatments for men living with advanced disease as well as a new genetic diagnosis profile to determine the status of aggressive disease.
-- Successfully fought for an additional $10M in PCRP funding for 2018 for a total of $110M, only the second increase since 2001.
-- Provided more than 50,000 patients with direct assistance to fight prostate cancer.
-- Launched and rapidly grew the ZERO Prostate Cancer Run/Walk into the largest men's health event series in the country with 40 events annually in fewer than 10 years.
-- Tested more than 140,000 men for free so they can know their risk.
-- Worked with the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) to update its “D" recommendation on prostate cancer screening to a “C" which advises men to have a conversation with their doctor about the benefits and harms of prostate cancer screening.
-- Recruited and worked with dozens of partners, celebrities, key leaders, and communities to make prostate cancer a federal priority; prompting a national dialogue about the disease that engages families to take action.