A new campaign is raising awareness of cancer—and celebrating survivors.
If you ride the Runaway Mine Train ride at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson this summer, you’ll notice colorful handprints wrapped around the cars. They belong to cancer survivors and supporters from across New Jersey. To raise awareness of cancer and celebrate survivors, RWJBarnabas Health, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Six Flags Great Adventure recently launched the “Coasters for Cancer” campaign.
Honoring survivors
In June, Six Flags Great Adventure hosted a celebration for cancer survivors and unveiled the coaster cars, which will remain decorated until the park closes for the season. “We’ve taken these handprints and integrated them into a design,” says Daniel DeYoung, Director, Corporate Partnerships, Six Flags Great Adventure. “When riders get on this coaster, they’ll be reminded of how many lives cancer touches in New Jersey and to join three iconic New Jersey brands—RWJBarnabas Health, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey and Six Flags Great Adventure—in the fight against the disease.” Cancer survivors and family members enjoyed creating the handprints last spring.
“I’m a two-time breast cancer survivor, and I’m representing survivors,” says Anna Simonelli, a Monmouth Medical Center\ patient from West Long Branch. The campaign is a reminder of the importance of screening and research on new treatments. “This is an incredible opportunity to shine a spotlight on cancer survivorship, education and prevention,” says Justin Edelman, Senior Vice President, Corporate Partnerships, RWJBarnabas
Health. “If this campaign can help just one person, it’s all worth it.”
Cancer risk in New Jersey
In New Jersey, the lifetime risk of developing any type of cancer is 1 in 2 for both women and men. About 49 percent of men and 45 percent of women will develop cancer at some point in their lives, according to the New Jersey Department of Health.
One in 7 men will develop prostate cancer and 1 in 8 women will develop breast cancer. About 1 in 14 men and 1 in 15 women will be diagnosed with lung cancer. In addition, 1 in 20 men and women will develop colorectal cancer. Between 2012 and 2016, the leading types of cancer in women were breast, lung, colon and rectal, uterine and thyroid, according to the New Jersey State Cancer Registry, New Jersey Department of Health.
For men, the leading types were prostate, lung, colon and rectal, bladder and melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer). The leading causes of cancer death for women and men were malignancies of the lung, followed by the breast (women) and the prostate (men), and the colon or rectum.
RWJBarnabas Health and Monmouth Medical Center, in partnership with Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey—the state’s only NCI-Designated Comprehensive Cancer Center—provide close-to-home access to the latest treatment and clinical trials. For more information, call 844.CANCERNJ.
Learn more about Coasters for Cancer.