The ninth annual Boston Prostate Cancer Walk (BPCW) will take place on Father’s Day, June 21, on the Boston Common.

The pre-walk event, at the Boston Common Bandstand, will begin at 11 a.m. The walk immediately follows the program at 11:30. Registration begins at 9 a.m.

Dr. Philip Kantoff will be the featured speaker. Kantoff is the leader of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center Prostate Cancer Program, director of the prostate cancer Specialized Program of Research Excellence, and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

In the past eight years, the Boston Prostate Cancer Walk has raised $2.9 million for prostate cancer research, awareness and education, and has funded 55 new prostate cancer research projects to 11 research institutions. One-third of the research projects initially funded by BPCW received additional funding from the National Cancer Institute and other organizations for the projects.

The Boston Prostate Cancer Walk's mission is to benefit prostate cancer research in Massachusetts and to prevent advanced prostate cancer through education and early detection. Its goals are to raise money for research for the treatment and cure of prostate cancer research and to increase the awareness of prostate cancer.

The Boston Prostate Cancer Walk donates 95 percent of the money raised to research and awareness. It is the largest donor to new research in Massachusetts, excluding the federal government.

For information about the Boston Prostate Cancer Walk and prostate cancer go to www.bostonpcwalk.org or contact Stan Klein at 617-625-4875 or at klein@rcn.com. Donations can be sent to the Boston Prostate Cancer Walk, 69 Farragut Ave., Somerville, MA 02144.