Newswise — NEW YORK – April 11, 2016 – The Cancer Research Institute (CRI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to cancer immunotherapy research and patient education, and Inspire, the largest online patient engagement platform in the U.S., have partnered to launch a new cancer immunotherapy support community for patients and caregivers. The website will feature discussions on topics like treatment decisions, financial and insurance issues, how to cope with side effects, and more.

“We are excited to partner with Inspire to provide a peer-to-peer online community for patients who are looking for cancer immunotherapy information and support,” said Jill O’Donnell-Tormey, Ph.D., CEO and director of scientific affairs at the Cancer Research Institute. “As the only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to immunotherapy, we are honored that Inspire chose CRI to connect patients and their caregivers to the discussion and resources they need.”

The cancer immunotherapy support community will be a complement to TheAnswerToCancer.org, a CRI website specifically designed for cancer patients and their caregivers who are seeking information on cancer immunotherapy across tumor types. The site provides an accessible overview of the science behind cancer immunotherapy, detailed information about cancer immunotherapy clinical trials, and voices from the cancer immunotherapy community.

Inspire has some of the largest and most active online support groups for cancer patients and caregivers. In total, more than 250,000 of the 750,000 Inspire members are affected by cancer.

“In our online community of support groups dedicated to people affected by cancer, such as lung cancer, ovarian cancer, and metastatic breast cancer, we’re seeing much more discussion about cancer immunotherapy research, especially those who are in active clinical trials or thinking about joining,” said Inspire CEO Brian Loew. “Partnering with the Cancer Research Institute will give our existing members, and new members, a fantastic channel to share information, experiences, and support.”

To learn more, go to CRI’s Inspire cancer immunotherapy support community at https://immunotherapy.inspire.com.

About InspireInspire (www.inspire.com) is the leading social network for health. As the nation’s largest patient-centric social network, Inspire is the exclusive online patient support community for hundreds of patient advocacy organizations and their members, including the American Lung Association, Ovarian Cancer National Alliance, and Fight Colorectal Cancer. Inspire creates and manages health condition specific support groups for over 750,000 patients and caregivers. Inspire helps the industry to connect with members for the purpose of clinical research, market research, and promotion.About the Cancer Research InstituteThe Cancer Research Institute (CRI), established in 1953, is the world’s only nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to transforming cancer patient care by advancing scientific efforts to develop new and effective immunotherapies to treat and, eventually, cure all cancers. Guided by a world-renowned Scientific Advisory Council that includes three Nobel laureates and 26 members of the National Academy of Sciences, CRI has invested $311 million in support of research conducted by immunologists and tumor immunologists at the world’s leading medical centers and universities, and has contributed to many of the key scientific advances that demonstrate the potential for immunotherapy to change the face of cancer treatment. To learn more, go to www.cancerresearch.org.