Gilda's Clubs across the country changing their names because of name recognition problems

(WXYZ) - An icon of the cancer support community may be disappearing.

The Gilda's Club of Madison, Wisconsin is changing it's name to the Cancer Support Community of Southwest Wisconsin.

Gilda's Club Worldwide merged with another organization, The Wellness Community, in 2009 to form Cancer Support Community.

In changing their name the organization becomes the fourth Gilda's Club to shed the name linked to comedian and Detroit native Gilda Radner. Radner died of Ovarian Cancer in 1989 at the age of 42.

Gilda's Clubs across the country are expected to follow suit.

In talking about the name change, the organization's Executive Director Lannia Syren Stenz told the Wisconsin State Journal they were making the move so that people would not be confused about what they do. 

Stenz told the paper that their younger patients simply don't know who Gilda Radner was. 

The first Gilda's Club was founded in New York City in 1995. The clubs take their name from Radner's famous quote about having cancer making her a member of an elite club she'd rather not be a member of.

Detroit's Gilda's Club was founded in January 1998 and is located in Royal Oak.