Ceremony Lights Flames Against Women's Cancer

Medical Center & Health Care

Ceremony Lights Flames Against Women's Cancer
Reading of Patient Names Honors Long Islanders Affected by Gynecologic Cancers

STONY BROOK, N.Y., September 28, 2011 – Physicians, nurses and staff of the Stony Brook University Cancer Center 




Patients, their families, and Stony Brook University Cancer Center staff held their lit candles high in a show of solidarity against gynecologic cancers and the power of survivorship.


assembled with survivors of ovarian, uterine, cervical, and other forms of gynecologic cancers, along with their families, during the annual Candlelight Ceremony to honor patients, living or deceased, affected by these cancers. The candles lit up the September 19 evening within the gathering outside the Cancer Center as the names of more than 100 patients were read. The ceremony symbolized the solidarity to support survivorship and the search for cures. September is National Gynecologic Cancer Awareness Month. The Candlelight Ceremony is sponsored by the Division of Gynecologic Oncology, Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and Long Island OCEANS (Ovarian Cancer Education Advocacy Network and Support), a grassroots non-profit support group and advocacy organization established in 2004. According to the American Cancer Society, more than 80,000 women are diagnosed with a gynecologic cancer each year and collectively the diseases will take the lives of nearly 28,000. “We have made strides in treating patients with gynecologic cancer, and current treatments help extend the lives of many, but we need to push further to better understand the causes of each of these diseases to develop targeted therapies that lead to cures,” says Michael L. Pearl, M.D., Professor and Director, Division of Gynecologic Oncology. Dr. Pearl emphasizes that with preventive measures against diseases like cervical cancer, as well as the emergence of less invasive surgical procedures, radiation therapies centered on precise and localized treatment, and clinical trials to develop more effective and less toxic chemotherapies, many patients are responding positively to treatment and ...

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