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HCC gets $1 million for prostate cancer initiative The AT&T Foundation is giving the Hollings Cancer Center a three-year, $1 million contribution to support HCC’s prostate cancer education and outreach program.   AT&T's Greg Morton, center, presents a $1 million check on Aug. 8 to Hollings Cancer Center to support a prostate cancer outreach initiative. From left are Sen. Fritz Hollings, Dr. Andrew Kraft, Dr. Marvella Ford, Morton, Rep. Jim Clyburn and Dr. Ray Greenberg. The new program, known as the AT&T Prostate Cancer Outreach Initiative, will primarily target black men to make them more aware of prostate cancer risks and treatment.   In addition, a portion of the $1 million gift will allow HCC to create the AT&T Laboratory for Biomarkers in Cancer. The AT&T laboratory will allow for research discoveries and ways to better treat and prevent prostate cancer in South Carolina.   “South Carolina ranks third in the nation in prostate cancer deaths, with African-American men having alarmingly higher rates of incidence and mortality than Caucasian men,” said Andrew S. Kraft, M.D., HCC director. “We are grateful for the confidence in our mission to reduce the cancer burden in the state through world-class research and community outreach.”   “I have worked—and will continue to work—to ensure the best services and opportunities to all Carolinians,” U.S. Rep. James Clyburn noted. “This alliance of public and private resources is a model for improving health and welfare and providing new opportunities to those who are historically underserved.”   Gregg Morton, president of AT&T South Carolina, said the contribution from the AT&T Foundation highlights the company’s continuing commitment to diverse and underserved communities and its support for advancing education, health and welfare and economic development.   This is among several contributions that AT&T has made to South Carolina programs and institutions that focus on diverse and lower-income communities, including $200,000 to historically black colleges and universities, Morton said.   HCC's AT&T Prostate Cancer Outreach Initiative will enhance HCC’s comprehensive statewide outreach efforts to include: Cancer education and awareness seminars for black ministers Grants for Lowcountry churches to offer prostate cancer education and screenings Prostate cancer screenings for medically underserved communities via the HCC’s mobile health unit A new prostate cancer patient navigation program to help newly diagnosed patients access and navigate the health care system for rapid and thorough treatment. Under the leadership of a leading researcher in the field of molecular biomarker research, the AT&T Laboratory for Biomarkers in Cancer will search for new detection methods, or biomarkers, for prostate cancer. The center’s research aims to find new ways to detect prostate cancer and predict therapeutic response. Ultimately, this contribution will allow HCC to make a significant impact on the state's dire statistics of prostate cancer deaths.     Friday, Aug. 10, 2007 Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Island Publications at 849-1778, ext. 201.