The LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit will be running from today to Wed, Aug. 26th. You can get more information and sign up for updates at http://livestrongblog.org/.  Below is an article by Liz Szabo at USA Today, which mentions the Summit and highlights Lance’s and the Foundation’s use of technology to spread its message and communicate with its community.

The full article can be found at http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-08-23-lance_N.htm?csp=34, with an excerpt below.

(Excerpt)

…

Armstrong feels an intense connection to cancer patients and their families.

He survived the disease in 1996, after cancer spread from his testicles to his abdomen, lungs and brain. Although he’s now cancer-free, his chances for survival then were “less than a coin toss.”

The next year, he started the Lance Armstrong Foundation. In 12 years, the foundation has raised more than $310 million, including $65 million from the sale of yellow LIVESTRONG wrist bands. He returned to competitive cycling this year, after a 3½-year retirement, to raise awareness about the disease. He’s not collecting a salary from his cycling team.

The LIVESTRONG summit

The foundation has organized the LIVESTRONG Global Cancer Summit, which begins today in Dublin, to find ways to improve access to care, ease suffering and end the stigma preventing many patients in poor countries from getting treatment.

Like Armstrong, the foundation embraces new technology — from Facebook to Flickr — to recruit and motivate supporters. At the cancer summit, volunteers from 60 countries will learn how to harness technology to tell their stories and lobby for change. Armstrong will blog from the event at health.usatoday.com, in addition to tweeting.

Armstrong also spends a surprising amount of time sending out private messages of support.

“It’s like a family,” Armstrong says. “I can relate to what they’re going through.   (The article continues at http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-08-23-lance_N.htm?csp=34)