FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 1, 2017
Contact: Lisa Berry
703-519-2107
Alejandro Escovedo to serve as national spokesperson for Prevent Cancer Foundation®
Mexican-American singer-songwriter wants you to Think About the Link® between viruses and cancer
ALEXANDRIA, VA — The Prevent Cancer Foundation® announced today Mexican-American singer-songwriter Alejandro Escovedo will serve as national spokesperson for Think About the Link®, an education campaign about the connection between certain viruses and cancer. Escovedo appears in a national Public Service Announcement beginning today (PSA) available for download here.
Escovedo comes from a musical family—brothers Coke and Pete played with Santana and niece Sheila E. is a well-known pop star—but he did not begin playing music until his mid-twenties. His music has defied genre, with influences from garage rock, country, punk and traditional Mexican music. Escovedo was diagnosed with hepatitis C in 1996, which is a leading cause of liver cancer. (Together with hepatitis B, these viruses cause at least 65 percent of liver cancer cases.)
His hepatitis C intensified—and was brought into the spotlight—when he collapsed on-stage in 2003. At the time of his diagnosis, Escovedo was unaware that hepatitis C is one of the leading causes of liver cancer. By the time of his collapse, he had advanced cirrhosis of the liver, as well as tumors in his abdomen and varices in his esophagus.
Today, Escovedo is hep C-cured and healthy, and he wants others to have the information he didn’t have; that hepatitis C is linked to cancer, and that it’s critical for those who are at risk to get screened and, if positive, treated for this virus before it leads to cancer.
“Too many people are unaware of the link between hepatitis C and cancer,” Escovedo said. I am proud to join with the Prevent Cancer Foundation to encourage everyone to take charge of their health and think about the link between viruses and cancer.”
About Think About the Link®
Think About the Link® focuses on three viruses that can lead to cancer: HPV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C. The campaign travels the country to increase awareness of the link between viruses and cancer, increase immunization rates for HPV and hepatitis B, and increase awareness of and access to treatment for hepatitis C. The ultimate goal of Think About the Link® is to prevent virally-induced cancers.
About The Prevent Cancer Foundation®
The Prevent Cancer Foundation® is one of the nation’s leading voluntary health organizations and the only U.S. nonprofit focused solely on cancer prevention and early detection. Founded in 1985, the Foundation has catapulted cancer prevention to prominence and fulfills its mission through research, education, outreach and advocacy nationwide.
For more information, please visit www.thinkaboutthelink.org or www.preventcancer.org.