Thyroid Cancer Survivors Organize World's First Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association
5 February 1999

Thyroid cancer (thyca) represents only one percent of all cancer diagnosed in the United States each year. Most survivors of this uncommon cancer have never met another survivor. That is changing. By the end of this year, a group of American and Canadian survivors will have completed incorporating the world's first survivors' organization. It will be called ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association. The ThyCa Board of Directors hopes to have completed incorporating as a non-profit association by the time of the second annual thyroid cancer conference, scheduled for October 22-24, 1999, in Massachusetts. Details about the association, the next conference and other survivors' services are available on the Internet at http://www.thyca.org. Information about the conference, ThyCa '99, is available by writing conference@thyca.org.

"In the past three years," says Ric Blake, the ThyCa Steering Committee's Corresponding Secretary, "physicians and thyca survivors have
developed a network of services for thyroid cancer survivors. From 1995 to 1997 we developed a weekly chat room and a mailing list on the Internet. From the first group in Lawrence, MA, in November 1996, we have local support groups beginning this year in Boston, MA, Charlotte, NC,
Chicago, IL, Louisville, KY, New York City, Toronto and Washington, DC. After concentrating on building our community through the Internet, we
were ready to meet face-to-face.

Last September, more than 80 survivors from the United States and Canada came together for the world's first survivors' conference. During that weekend, we organized a steering committee dedicated to creating a non-profit association. By the time of our next conference, ThyCa '99, which
will be held October 22-24 in Burlington, Massachusetts, we will have incorporated as ThyCa: Thyroid Cancer Survivors' Association, Inc."

Anyone who wants more information about ThyCa can go to the Association's web page at http://www.thyca.org or contact Ric Blake, ThyCa
Corresponding Secretary by e-mail at Rblake@thyca.org or call during the day at 978-689-6656 or in the evening at 603-434-4932.

ThyCa Facts

Thyroid Cancer represents only one percent of all cancer diagnosed in the United States each year.

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