Siemens Healthcare helped kick off a national cancer research campaign on Wednesday in New York City with the help of Spider-Man.

Siemens and Stand Up To Cancer launched what they are calling "The Baton Pass" at the pediatric oncology ward at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Marvel Comics' Spider-Man facilitated the physical passing of the baton to many of the pediatric cancer patients in attendance.

It's the first stop for the grassroots effort.
The campaign is meant to raise funds and also symbolize hope for cancer patients, survivors and their friends and families.

"Imaging plays a huge role in determining which drugs are working and which ones are not," Dr. Gregory Sorensen, CEO of Siemens Healthcare North America, told DOTmed News.

Both of Sorensen's parents have cancer. He said last week his dad went in for his follow-up scan for a new experimental cancer drug and the decision about whether he was responding or not was all based on imaging.

"What people don't realize with cancer treatments is that when you run out of options, it's a race against the clock. If the drug isn't working, you want to know that as soon as possible so that you can go onto the next one," he said.

MR, CT, PET and now PET/CT and PET/MR are all part of this process.

Sorensen brought special attention to the role imaging is playing in lung cancer screening. He calls the results of the National Lung Screening Trial (NLST), showing that low-dose CT scans can cut down the mortality risk by 20 percent, "the biggest news in two decades" as far as imaging and cancer goes.

To put it in perspective, the last 20 to 30 years of lung cancer research has only reduced the death rate from the disease by 4 percent. A 20 percent drop is huge in comparison.

"If people took advantage of screening, there's estimates of anywhere between 10 thousand and 50 thousand lives saved every year," said Sorensen.

"The Baton Pass" campaign is meant to help speed up this kind of research. One area of cancer research Sorensen is keeping a close eye on involves mapping cancer.

"Most people die from metastasis, not their actual cancer," he said. "So figuring out how cancer spreads and what drives that spread, that's a critical area of research and involves imaging tools we're developing to scan the body more effectively."

The goal of "The Baton Pass" is to raise close to $5-10 million. Siemens made a commitment to raise $1 million through September.

Dr. Stephen Emerson, director of the Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, said private fundraising efforts such as this are critically important right now given the cuts to federal funding and the National Institutes of Health.

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