Pancreatic cancer took the life of actor Michael Landon, star of Bonanza, Little House on the Prairie, and Highway to Heaven. Now, his daughter, actress Jennifer Landon, is paying tribute to her father in a The Cancer Project public awareness campaign on the importance of protecting your family by feeding them healthful, cancer-preventing foods.

To celebrate Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and Thanksgiving, in an e-mail message sent in November, Landon urged The Cancer Project supporters and others to give thanks for their health and the health of loved ones—and to honor cancer survivors and those who have lost their life to cancer.

In speaking out about the disease that took her father’s life, she is also helping people understand that a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables can help prevent cancer and other diet-related diseases. “Bringing this groundbreaking information to the general public can prevent other families from suffering the same loss mine has,” said Landon.

A three-time Emmy winner for her dual roles as Gwen Norbeck and Cleo Babbitt on the daytime drama As the World Turns, Landon began her professional acting career at the age of 5, when she was cast in the final episodes of Highway to Heaven.

In her message, Landon also stressed the importance of educating doctors and nurses—who often receive little nutrition training—on the link between diet and cancer, something that The Cancer Project does through programs like the recently posted webcasts from the 2008 Cancer and Nutrition Symposium. Webcast topics include:

• The Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study (WINS) and the Role of a Low-Fat Diet in Breast Cancer Recurrence
• The Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) Study
• Preventive Medicine Research Institute Prostate Cancer Lifestyle Trial
• Making Sense of the Soy-Breast Cancer Relationship
• Exploring the Role of Soy Isoflavones in Prostate Cancer
• The Trans Fat Campaign
• From Science to Policy

Visit The Cancer Project to view these webcasts and to learn more about Jennifer Landon’s campaign.

PCRM Online, December 2008