THE WHO's Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend have announced the launch of their new charity, Teen Cancer America.

Teen Cancer America's mission is to improve the quality of life for teens and young adults with cancer by partnering with hospitals to create facilities, develop support programs, and raise awareness during treatment and beyond. Teen Cancer America aims to ignite a movement that bridges the gap, generating action around helping teens and young adults with cancer.

With the continuing support of Roger and Pete, Teen Cancer America is building on over 22 years’ experience from the renowned UK charity, Teenage Cancer Trust www.teenagecancertrust.org, and is committed to addressing the gaps in the teen and young adult cancer experience.

Daltrey, who is also a longstanding patron of Teenage Cancer Trust in the UK, said: "I am incredibly proud to be launching the Teen Cancer America initiative. I have seen firsthand how Teenage Cancer Trust has set the gold standard for care in UK and I am excited to help start a movement that demands the same level of care for teens and young adults in America. Over the years I have met many young people with cancer and have been inspired by their unfaltering spirit, optimism and lust for life. I believe that we should do all we can to ensure that they can still be young people first and cancer patients second." He added “These facilities for teenagers should be a right, not a privilege."

Why has Teen Cancer America been established? Simply because it is the right thing to do. We believe that young people with cancer in America deserve age appropriate treatment in the right environments and we believe that the resources in America will lend themselves to greater research and treatment, thus increasing survival rates.

Teen Cancer America focuses on the needs of people with cancer between the ages of 13 - 24 and will help hospitals develop units designed to give the very best chance of a positive outcome both physically and emotionally. In addition to state-of-the-art facilities to keep patients occupied during long stays in hospital, the units will strive to provide an environment where they can meet others in a similar situation, helping to support their transition between teen and adulthood. Teen Cancer America will be giving strategic consultancy to anyone wanting to develop a unit.

With 70,000 adolescent young adults being diagnosed with cancer each year in the US alone*, the medical community understands why the work that Teen Cancer America aims to do is so important.

Dr. Gerald Grant, a member of the Board of Advisors for Teen Cancer America and Associate Professor of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics at Duke Children’s Hospital, said: "The launch of Teen Cancer America is very exciting and will benefit so many who every day face unique challenges related to coping with cancer at the same time as trying to develop self-image and autonomy, complete an education, obtain employment, and navigate personal relationships. There has been growing support in the US from the medical profession and a movement of young people and their families who are demanding change. This fantastic initiative needs to establish momentum and then we will really start to see improvement in the quality of life for our adolescents and young adults and hopefully survival rates as well.”

Fundraising starts now with The Who’s Quadrophenia And More National Tour, which kicked off on November 1st, by donating $1 from every ticket sold on the tour coupled with British Airways supporting a 'Text to Donate' sweepstakes program at each of the concerts.

Merrill Lynch Wealth Management has come on board as the first major supporter of the organization.

For information and to find out how you can get involved, visit this location.

The Who tour dates include:

November

13 - Washington, DC - Verizon Center
14 - Brooklyn, NY - Barclays Center
16 - Boston, MA - TD Garden
20 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre
21 - Ottawa, ON - Scotiabank Place
23 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
24 - Detroit, MI - Joe Louis Arena
27 - Minneapolis, MN - Target Center
29 - Chicago, IL - Allstate Arena

December

2 - Nashville, TN - Bridgestone Arena
5 - New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
6 - Newark, NJ - Prudential Center
8 - Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
9 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena

January

28 - Anaheim, CA - Honda Center
30 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center

February

1 - Oakland, CA - Oracle Arena
2 - Reno, NV - Reno Events Center
5 - San Diego, CA - Valley View Casino Center
6 - Glendale, AZ - Jobing.com Arena
8 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
12 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center
14 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center
16 - Louisville, KY - KFC Yum! Arena
17 - Columbus, OH - Schottenstein Center
19 - Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum
21 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum
22 - Atlantic City, NJ - Boardwalk Hall
24 - Manchester, NH - Verizon Wireless Arena
26 - Providence, RI - Dunkin’ Donuts Center

Check out fan-filmed video from the tour below: