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BOSTON, MA-Edyta Sliwinska and Alec Mazo, professional performers of the ABC TV hit show “Dancing with the Stars” appeared in support of Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer on December 11 at the Boston Park Plaza Hotel. Organized by AdMeTech Foundation, a Boston-based nonprofit in partnership with Arthur Murray International (AMI) and with support from the Massachusetts Association of Ballroom Dancing (MASSabda), Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer was an exclusive, intimate benefit with two celebrities from “Dancing with the Stars.”

Dr. Faina Shtern, President of the AdMeTech Foundation stated, “We hope that Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer will make as great a difference for men’s health as Race for the Cure of Breast Cancer has made for women’s health. It is particularly timely now, when recent scientific data indicate that since 1986, diagnosis of prostate cancer increased seven fold in men aged 50 and younger, tripled in men aged 50 to 59 and doubled in men aged 60 to 69.” She noted the critical need for increased public and private funding to improve prevention, screening and accurate diagnosis of prostate cancer, which strikes so many men in the prime of life. She also stated, “Improved diagnostic tools will save lives, enable the least invasive and the most effective patient care, improve the quality of life in millions of men, and save billions of dollars in health care costs.” She thanked the dance community in general, Arthur Murray International, Dance Beat, MASSabda, and SuperShag Productions, specifically for their continuous support of Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer. She described how many past participants had written appeals to the US Congress, which had recently allocated $1.6 million to AdMeTech’s groundbreaking research program.

In connection with the December 11 event, Dr. Shtern acknowledged support from Messrs. John Kimmins, President of AMI and Mark Lightner, Area Chair of AMI in New England, as well as the regional leadership of AMI in Massachusetts, including Ms. Kia Kenny and Ms. Nancy Hamblett of Boston, Ms. Olga Stepanetz of Natick, and Ms. Linda Mansfield and Ms. Laura Mailander of Burlington, and in New Hampshire, including Mr. Stephen Mathon of Manchester. In welcoming the guests and introducing the evening’s schedule, Mr. Lightner spoke of his passionate commitment to transforming diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. He highlighted the importance of the partnership of AMI with AdMeTech Foundation to facilitate expansion of Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer to the regional and national level and to assure increase in both the public awareness of prostate cancer crisis and the research funding. Arthur Murray International is the world’s largest dancing organization, known internationally as a prominent entertainment company with about 220 franchises located throughout the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Europe, the Middle East, Japan, Africa, and Australia.

Edyta and Alec conducted Paso Doble workshop and challenged everyone to learn something new in dramatic performance, arm styling, and choreography. After the workshop, the dynamic duo mesmerized everyone present with an inspiring dance performance of Paso Doble and international rumba. The guests had an opportunity to meet and mingle with the stars and take personal photos with both Edyta and Alec during the reception.

Edyta and Alec have won over millions of viewers as the professional performers of ABC’s sensation “Dancing with the Stars.” Edyta is the only professional dancer to appear on all eight seasons. Alec has won “Dancing with the Stars” debut season and has had numerous performances since the show began. The married couple has won national and international dancing competitions.

The event featured a silent auction with dresses donated by Julia Gorchakova Powers, a dance celebrity in her own right, on behalf of Artistry in Motion and by Tatiana Noll of Elle Dance Studio. Edyta and Alec, Arthur Murray. International and the dance community helped to make the event a great success, which caught attention of and was covered by the Boston Globe and Boston Herald.

The next Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer event is being planned for Los Angeles for 2010 in cooperation with Nick Kosovich, a coach and choreographer for Dancing with the Stars and Arthur Murray International, and with support from the Hollywood and TV celebrities.

Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer is a public awareness and advocacy campaign to end prostate cancer crisis. It is modeled after Race for the Cure of Breast Cancer, which was instrumental for making breast cancer a national priority and resulted in increased research funding and transformation of patient care for women. Prostate cancer strikes 1 in 6 men and is more common than even breast cancer which strikes 1 in 8 women, and yet, public awareness and demand for national investment in research and innovation are lagging far behind. As a result of low funding, men do not have accurate, life-saving diagnostic tools akin to mammograms in women. The lack of accurate diagnostic tools causes prostate cancer to become a patient care crisis and a socio-economic problem.

The goal of Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer is to recognize prostate cancer as a national priority similar to breast cancer and to increase public and private research funding. In the same way that the advancement of mammography transformed breast cancer care, advanced prostate cancer imaging will enable early diagnosis and minimally-invasive treatment, improve quality of life in millions of men, and reduce billions of dollars in health care costs.

Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer hasfeatured celebrities of the “Dancing with the Stars” and Hollywood, Boston City Mayor, President of the Boston City Council, Executive Director of Boston Ballet and many other generous individuals. AdMeTech Foundation has partnered with a wide network of dance organizations, including Arthur Murray International, SuperShag Productions (ranked second among the national independent dance studios in 2009), Dance Beat (the largest international publication of its kind) and Massachusetts Association for Ballroom Dancing (a chapter of the USA Dance) to facilitate expansion of the Dance for the Cure of Prostate Cancer campaign as a national, and ultimately, international movement to transform patient care for men.

About AdMeTech Foundation: AdMeTech is a nonprofit organization based in Boston, MA, with the mission to end the prostate cancer crisis. AdMeTech provides international leadership and conducts ground-breaking programs in research and education for facilitated development of accurate diagnostic tools for early detection and minimally-invasive treatment of prostate cancer to:

• Save lives; improve quality of life in millions of men; reduce billions of dollars in health care costs;
• End the era of blind prostate cancer care; and create the future of image-guided, least invasive, and precisely targeted diagnosis and treatment that can be performed in outpatient clinics with minimal patient discomfort, complications, and costs.

To achieve these goals, AdMeTech has undertaken a public awareness campaign to recognize the prostate cancer crisis as a national priority and to increase public and private funding for research. As the result of this campaign, US Congress introduced historic legislation including the Prostate Research Imaging and Men’s Education (PRIME) Act and House Resolution 353. The PRIME Act, which calls for government funding of $650 million over 5 years for research and education to advance prostate cancer diagnostics is currently under consideration by the US Senate. House Resolution 353 was passed unanimously in June 2008 and expressed, “…the sense of the US House of Representatives that there should be increased support for research and development of advanced imaging technologies for prostate cancer detection and treatment.”

The Massachusetts General Court and the Boston City Council both issued resolutions recognizing the AdMeTech Foundation for its efforts in research and awareness to improve early detection and treatment of prostate cancer.