Patrick Dempsey, Pfizer and the American Cancer Society Team Up to “Change the Odds” Against Cancer

For award-winning actor and cancer community advocate Patrick Dempsey, working to help make sure everyone has the same opportunity to prevent, detect and treat cancer is deeply personal. Being by his mother’s side during her 17-year journey with ovarian cancer, Patrick experienced the profound impact that a cancer diagnosis can have on both a patient and their family. It was this experience that led him to create The Dempsey Center, a non-profit which offers a space where people navigating cancer can find emotional support and educational resources in his home state of Maine.

“I’ve seen the positive impact that timely care and support can have on someone’s cancer journey,” said Patrick Dempsey. “But the fact is, too many people are getting left behind – especially those living in areas where healthcare resources are limited. They’re struggling just to get information about cancer and to get screened.”

Now, Patrick has partnered with Pfizer and the American Cancer Society (ACS) on a mission to tackle these challenges head-on, lending his voice to ACS’s “Change the Odds: Uniting to Improve Cancer Outcomes^TM,” an initiative to address cancer care disparities and improve health outcomes in underserved communities across the United States. One focus of the initiative is to help improve cancer outcomes in rural communities, where people are more likely to receive a later-stage cancer diagnosis and less likely to receive optimal care once diagnosed compared to those living in urban areas.^i,ii

In a new video series called Front Porch Conversations, Patrick will speak with people impacted by cancer from rural areas across the country, helping to shine a spotlight on the barriers these communities face. Through open and honest conversations, Patrick will help break down these barriers and point people to resources available through patient advocacy organizations like ACS.

“At Pfizer, we believe that everyone, regardless of their background or where they live, deserves the opportunity to benefit from the latest scientific advancements in cancer treatment and early detection,” said Karin Tollefson, Chief Oncology Medical Officer, Pfizer. “We are incredibly proud to support the “Change the Odds” initiative and are excited to work with Patrick Dempsey to help link people in underserved communities to resources provided by the American Cancer Society.”

For more information and to view the video series with Patrick, visit www.Cancer.org/ChangeTheOdds.

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ⁱ Henley, S. J., Anderson, R. N., Thomas, C. C., Massetti, G. M., Peaker, B., & Richardson, L. C. (2017). Invasive cancer incidence, 2004–2013, and deaths, 2006–2015, in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan counties—United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summaries, 66(14), 1-13. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/ss/ss6614a1.htm
ⁱⁱ Yabroff KR, Han X, Zhao J, Nogueira L, Jemal A. Rural cancer disparities in the United States: A Multilevel Framework to improve access to care and patient outcomes. JCO Oncology Practice. 2020;16(7):409-413. https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/OP.20.00352