TOPSHAM – Nelson Leavitt of Augusta is a founding member of the newly created National Alliance of State Prostate Cancer Coalitions.

Leavitt traveled to Los Angeles to join with members of prostate cancer organizations from 25 states to help develop a grassroots organization to promote effective prostate cancer education and advocacy programs.

In Maine, Leavitt is the coordinator of the American Cancer Society’s Man to Man program, a community-based support group for prostate cancer patients and their families, and a member of the society’s Cancer Control Advisory Task Force.

The mission of the new alliance is to raise national awareness of prostate cancer by facilitating the development of, and providing support for, state prostate cancer coalitions like the one in Maine. It will serve as a collective voice for men and their families dealing with the realities of prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the number one diagnosed cancer in men. This year 1,150 Maine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 150 of them will die of the disease.

For more information on prostate cancer, contact the American Cancer Society at 800-464-3102, press 3, or visit www.cancer.org. To learn more about the Maine Coalition to Fight Prostate Cancer, contact Nelson Leavitt at 623-5375.