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originally posted on February 12, 2002
ANN ARBOR, MI - When actor Robert Urich
appears on the celebrity version of the popular game show
"Who
Wants to be a Millionaire?" this week, he might use
one of his "life lines" to help him get an answer
right and win more money. But no matter how much he wins,
he'll be throwing a real life line to people with the same
kind of cancer he has already survived.
Urich will donate all of his winnings to the University
of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center's Heather and Robert
Urich Fund for Sarcoma Research, which he and his wife
established two years ago after he was successfully treated
for the disease by a U-M team.
Urich traveled to the U-M for his treatment because of its
Cancer Center's national reputation for advanced care and
cutting-edge research on sarcoma,
a rare and challenging group of cancers that arise in connective
tissues such as muscles, cartilage, tendons and bones.
The U-M Cancer Center has assembled a team of specialists
in orthopaedic and surgical oncology, medical and pediatric
oncology, radiation oncology, musculoskeletal radiology, and
anatomical and experimental pathology to give sarcoma patients
a comprehensive approach to their disease, including access
to clinical trials that often involve novel diagnostic and
treatment approaches. Members of this team are also working
on laboratory studies of the genes involved in sarcomas, and
on new molecular approaches to diagnosis and treatment.
According to the National Cancer Institute, sarcomas strike
more than 11,000 people a year, and kill more than 5,000.
Because of this deadly toll, much more research is needed
what causes all forms of sarcoma, and what can defeat them.
The Urich fund is designed to accelerate the pace of that
research, through support for laboratory and clinical studies
at U-M.
"Mr. Urich knows firsthand that sarcoma is not an easy
disease to find in time or treat effectively, and that many
people who develop it do not do as well as he has," says
Laurence Baker, D.O, co-director of the U-M's Connective Tissue
Oncology program. "We're tremendously grateful for his
help in bringing attention and funding to the fight against
all forms of sarcoma."
Urich's "Millionaire" winnings will be added to
the more than $100,000 raised for the fund last November at
the first annual Robert Urich Golf Classic. A second tournament
will be held this Nov. 18 at the Sherwood Country Club in
Thousand Oaks, CA.
Urich is scheduled to appear on "Millionaire" sometime
during the Feb. 11-13 period, as part of a series of shows
featuring celebrities. The show airs on ABC affiliates at
8 p.m.
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