The Prevent Cancer Foundation is saddened by the death of former Kansas Senator Bob Dole after his months-long battle with stage IV lung cancer. He lived an extraordinary life of service, as a soldier in World War II, in Congress and as a cancer prevention advocate.
In 1993, Sen. Dole, a prostate cancer survivor, began to partner with the Prevent Cancer Foundation and the Hutchinson Clinic to bring free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests for prostate cancer to eligible men at the Kansas State Fair, the first booth in what later became the Prevent Cancer Foundation State Fairs Program. The Bob Dole Health Awareness and Screening Booth continued at the Kansas State Fair for more than 20 years, providing screenings for additional cancer types, as well as prevention education for attendees. The State Fairs Program expanded to eight additional states across the U.S. with the support of the states’ respective members of Congress.
The Prevent Cancer Foundation’s Congressional Families Cancer Prevention Program® honored Sen. Dole with the Congressional Leadership Award at the inaugural Action for Cancer Awareness Awards Luncheon in 1993. We are grateful for the important messages of cancer prevention and early detection Sen. Dole promoted and are proud of the Foundation’s long association with the senator. We extend our most sincere condolences to his wife, former Sen. Elizabeth Dole, and their family.
