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NEW YORK, May 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Comedy vs Cancer, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s (MSK) official comedy benefit show for blood cancer research, raised over $1.3 million on Tuesday, May 7. Over 1,000 supporters attended the one-night-only event at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall in New York City.
Hosted by Nick Kroll, Comedy vs Cancer featured performances by Tina Fey, John Oliver, Jim Gaffigan, Alex Edelman, and the cast of Netflix’s Girls5eva, which includes Sara Bareilles, Busy Philipps, Renée Elise Goldsberry, and Paula Pell. “There's no better way to fight blood cancer than by funding the incredible work of experts at MSK,” said Kroll. Attendees included Steve Martin, Jon Hamm, and Ellie Kemper.
Comedy vs Cancer and MSK are dedicated to improving outcomes for people with blood cancer, including those with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which is caused by the uncontrolled growth of abnormal immature blood cells in the bone marrow.
The FDA recently approved a phase 1 clinical trial for an investigational immunotherapy developed by a team of MSK hematologist-oncologists, including Anthony Daniyan, MD; Mark Geyer, MD; and Kevin J. Curran, MD. The potential new treatment is designed to seek and destroy acute myeloid leukemia cancer cells that survive after chemotherapy.
“Without funding from Comedy vs Cancer, we wouldn’t be where we are today — advancing immunotherapy for blood cancers,” said Dr. Curran, the Pediatric Director of the Cellular Therapeutic Center at MSK.
Comedy vs Cancer was founded by Niccole and Jeremy Kroll, Jennifer Rogers and Robert Carlock, and Nick Kroll and Lily Kwong. This year’s show was made possible by corporate support from Netflix, Kreindler & Kreindler, Esquire Bank and the leadership of the Host Committee, which is a group of volunteers committed to advancing MSK’s mission of ending cancer for life.
Since 2019, Comedy vs Cancer has directed more than $4 million into MSK labs, where doctors and researchers are working every day to unlock new cures for people with blood cancer in New York City and worldwide.
MORE INFORMATION
About Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
The people of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) are united by a singular mission: ending cancer for life. Our specialized care teams provide personalized, compassionate, expert care to patients of all ages. Informed by basic research done at our Sloan Kettering Institute, scientists across MSK collaborate to conduct innovative translational and clinical research that is driving a revolution in our understanding of cancer as a disease and improving the ability to prevent, diagnose, and treat it. MSK is dedicated to training the next generation of scientists and clinicians, who go on to pursue our mission at MSK and around the globe. One of the world’s most respected comprehensive centers devoted exclusively to cancer, we have been recognized as one of the top two cancer hospitals in the country by U.S. News & World Report for more than 30 years. www.mskcc.org
CONTACT:
Maggie Hopf
hopfm@mskcc.org
646-988-4355
