Roger Daltrey of The Who (back) and cancer patients. Photo courtesy of UCLA.

WESTWOOD—Rock icons Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend recently announced the opening of the UCLA Daltrey/Townshend Teen & Young Adult Cancer Program, which caters to young adults and teen cancer patients who are receiving treatment at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

This is the first program of its kind in the U.S. and aims to build on previous successes of the Teenage Cancer Trust, a program that has funded 19 special teen cancer units in the United Kingdom.

According to UCLA, the overall goal of this new program is to help the youths being treated to receive top-notch care and professional support that will help them to face the physical as well as the emotional toll of a cancer diagnosis. It is believed that young people should not put their lives on hold because of their affliction.

"At a time when your body is changing, your social life is everything and you're still trying to figure out who you are, getting cancer can seem like an impossible blow to take," Daltrey was quoted as saying in a report from UCLA.

The UCLA Daltrey/Townshend Young Adult Cancer Program’s special unit will ideally serve as a space in which teens and young adults can feel at ease. Patients will be treated in adjoined patient rooms that surround a common lounge area to foster a supportive and cooperative environment. 

Rock legend Robert Plant of the band Led Zeppelin, another supporter of the program in the U.K., has also thrown his support behind this new endeavor, stating to UCLA representatives, "We hope to bring the success of the Teenage Cancer Trust program in the U.K. to this inaugural program at UCLA. The caring and support the program provides have made a huge difference in the lives of many teens and young adults who are battling cancer."

A team of pediatric and medical oncologists, child life specialists, nurses, psychologists, along with some young adult cancer survivors, traveled to the U.K. in July of this year to train with the Teenage Cancer Trust program in order to be better suited for the challenges awaiting them in establishing the program at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

Michael Peńa, a cancer survivor who was diagnosed at age 23 and went along on the trip, spoke to Canyon News and was impressed at the attention to detail that was put into making young people feel comfortable. He also stressed the importance of there being a sense of belonging, a sense of peer acceptance and finally a sense of independence in order to boost their confidence. He also recounted being housed while undergoing treatment with patients in their 70s and expressed gratitude for there now being a place young people battling cancer can go to feel accepted and a place they can even bring their friends.

The UCLA Daltrey/Townshend Teen & Young Adult Cancer Program will have the support of Who Cares, a foundation started so that fans of The Who would be able to help the legendary band to respond to charitable causes. Daltrey and Townshend have been able to raise millions of dollars through Who Cares by way of a series of concerts that have quickly become one of the largest music events in the world.

In Addition, a portion of ticket sales in Daltrey’s ongoing Canadian and U.S. “Tommy” tour is being donated to the UCLA Teen & Young Adult Cancer Program through the Who Cares organization.

"We believe that teenagers have a much better chance in their fight against cancer if they are treated by experts specializing in their care in a compassionate environment tailored to their needs," Daltrey said.

"I hope that our fans will really get behind Who Cares and do their bit to make a difference to young people living with cancer," he said. "We are grateful to UCLA for helping bring the treatment successes we've made with young people in the U.K. to teens in America."

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