To celebrate Valentine’s Day, The University of New Mexico Lobo Men’s and Women’s basketball teams are joining forces to honor all those who have beaten breast cancer, still face it, or have lost to it. They plan to hold their Lobos Love Pink basketball games during the same week to raise awareness for breast cancer. The Men’s game will start at 6:30 pm Tuesday, February 14. The women’s game starts at 1:00 pm Saturday, February 18. Both games will be held at WisePies Arena.

“Fortunately in breast cancer, most patients are cured of their disease,” says Ursa Brown-Glaberman, MD. “The key is to find the disease early when it is still curable.” Brown-Glaberman is a breast cancer specialist at the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. She will represent the faculty of the UNM Cancer Center at the Lobo Women’s basketball game on Feb. 18.

The UNM Cancer Center will host invitation-only pre-game receptions for breast cancer survivors and their families. The basketball teams and the UNM Cancer Center will honor breast cancer survivors during each of the games. “We thank the Lobo Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams for their support and participation,” says Cheryl Willman, MD, Director and CEO of the UNM Cancer Center. “Games like this raise awareness for screening and that helps us to save lives.”

 


About the “Lobos Love Pink” UNM Men’s Basketball GameThe Lobos will tip off against the Boise State Bronco on Tuesday, February 14, 2017, at 8:00 pm in WisePies Arena, 1111 University Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, NM. If you are interested in purchasing tickets in advance, please call the Lobo Ticket Office at 505-925-LOBO or visit unmtickets.com. During the first half of the game, the Lobos will be auctioning off official LOBOS LOVE PINK JESERYS on the concourse of WisePies Arena. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center.

About the “Lobos Love Pink” UNM Women’s Basketball GameThe Lobos will tip off against the Fresno State Bulldogs on Saturday, February 18, 2017, at 1:00 pm in WisePies Arena, 1111 University Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, NM. If you are interested in purchasing tickets in advance, please call the Lobo Ticket Office at 505-925-LOBO or visit unmtickets.com. During the first half of the game, the Lobos will be auctioning off official LOBOS LOVE PINK JESERYS on the concourse of WisePies Arena. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center.

 About the UNM Comprehensive Cancer CenterThe University of New Mexico Comprehensive Cancer Center is the Official Cancer Center of New Mexico and the only National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center in a 500-mile radius. Its 125 board-certified oncology specialty physicians include cancer surgeons in every specialty (abdominal, thoracic, bone and soft tissue, neurosurgery, genitourinary, gynecology, and head and neck cancers), adult and pediatric hematologists/medical oncologists, gynecologic oncologists, and radiation oncologists. They, along with more than 500 other cancer healthcare professionals (nurses, pharmacists, nutritionists, navigators, psychologists and social workers), provided cancer care for nearly 60 percent of the adults and children in New Mexico affected by cancer. They treated 11,249 patients in 84,875 ambulatory clinic visits in addition to in-patient hospitalizations at UNM Hospital. These patients came from every county in the State. More than 12 percent of these patients participated in cancer clinical trials testing new cancer treatments and 35 percent of patients participated in other clinical research studies, including tests of novel cancer prevention strategies and cancer genome sequencing. The 130 cancer research scientists affiliated with the UNMCCC were awarded almost $60 million in federal and private grants and contracts for cancer research projects and published 301 high quality publications. Promoting economic development, they filed more than 30 new patents in FY16, and since 2010, have launched 11 new biotechnology start-up companies. Scientists associated with the UNMCCC Cancer Control & Disparities have conducted more than 60 statewide community-based cancer education, prevention, screening, and behavioral intervention studies involving more than 10,000 New Mexicans. Finally, the physicians, scientists and staff have provided education and training experiences to more than 230 high school, undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral fellowship students in cancer research and cancer health care delivery. Learn more at cancer.unm.edu.