Cancer community rallies around Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong, right, chats with other riders at the start line of the Power of Four mountain bicycle race at the starting line in Snowmass Village, Colo., early Saturday, Aug. 25, 2012. The race is the first public appearance for Armstrong since the U.S. Anti-Doping Association stripped him of his seven Tour de France championships and banned him for life from the sport. (P Photo/David Zalubowski

MONTREAL—Lance Armstrong, branded a drug cheat and banned from cycling by the US Anti-Doping Agency, can still count on support from the cancer community, the head of the Union for International Cancer Control said Monday.

US cycling icon and cancer survivor Armstrong is set to be stripped of his seven Tour de France titles after he gave up the right to fight serious doping claims by the US agency at an independent hearing.

But Union for International Cancer Control president Mary Gospodarowicz told AFP the “cancer community is behind him.”

Gospodarowicz was speaking at the opening of the World Cancer Congress in Montreal.

Armstrong is scheduled to speak at the conference on Wednesday and “donations to his foundation continue” unabated, she said.

Armstrong’s Livestrong campaign has so far collected nearly $500 million for cancer research and helping people cope with the disease.