Research
The American Cancer Society is committed to leveraging our scientific credibility to support innovative, high impact research -- both through direct funding and the ability influence the amount and direction of research funding from other sources. Watch this video to learn more about the next phase of the Society's research initiative.
Cancer Prevention Study - 3 (CPS-3)
Meet the Researchers
As the nation's largest private, not-for-profit source of funds for scientists studying cancer, the American Cancer Society focuses its funding on investigator-initiated, peer-reviewed proposals. This process ensures that scientists propose projects that they believe are ready to be tackled with the available knowledge and techniques, rather than working on projects designed by administrators who are far removed from the front lines of research. This intellectual freedom encourages discovery in areas that scientists believe are most likely to solve the problems of cancer. Visit www.cancer.org/research to find more information on research grants, accomplishments and milestones, American Cancer Society Nobel Laureates, and the Cancer Prevention Studies.
My Current Hometown and Workplace: San Diego, UCSD
An Interesting Fact About Me: I play the guitar and piano, and I have played in multiple bands.
Implications of My Research: Androgen-independent prostate cancer is an untreatable disease. The purpose of my work is to understand how this disease arises and how it can be stopped.
I selected this field of cancer research because: I study the role of inflammation in cancer. My background is in transcription, and when I came to this lab I was interested in combining my experience with my interest in inflammation.
This work is important to me because: Prostate cancer affects 100,000 men and kills 30,000 each year. My work can hopefully provide clues on how to reduce those numbers.
Most Rewarding Part of My Work: When my research finally answers a question that has been plaguing me for a long while.
My Biggest Challenge: Biological research can be very frustrating, as many experiments fail and many hypotheses are incorrect. It takes time to arrive at the correct answers, yet I can be very impatient.
When facing an impasse in my research, I am motivated to keep going by: The knowledge that through hard work the answer will be found.
My Wish: That my work can have some impact on those suffering with this disease.
What does the American Cancer Society mean to you? An organization dedicated to helping the fight against cancer through patient care and funding research.
Dr. Ruben Petreaca is studying DNA damage repair and replication at the molecular level. Watch and listen to Dr. Petreaca talk about his research.
Why did you choose this area of research? I chose basic science research because I want to look directly at the mechanism within cells to learn why they work and why they don't work.
Implications of my research: Most cancers start at the molecular level with a genetic mutation or deletion in genes required for normal cell proliferation, cellular checkpoints that allow for damage surveillance, DNA replication, or even genes involved in DNA damage repair. We are looking at the balance between living too long and getting cancer. If we can understand how DNA is repaired, we'll be able to prevent the damage from accumulating and leading to cancer.
The most rewarding part of my work: This is very rewarding for me because it's about understanding the principles of life, and it is always interesting.
For Society grantee Patricia Keeley, cancer research is personal. Dr. Keeley is a two-time cancer survivor who is working to determine how breast cancer cells are able to spread throughout the body.
Derek Griffith, PhDDr. Bruce A. Beutler
Dr. Beutler, professor of genetics and immunology at the Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, California, was awarded a two-year American Cancer Society project grant in January 1992 to study TNF synthesis in cancer. Dr. Beutler, along with Jules Hoffmann of Rockafeller University, were awarded the Nobel Prize for their discoveries concerning the activation of innate immunity.Dr. Ralph M. Steinman
Dr. Steinman of Rockafeller University was awarded a one-year American Cancer Society Research Opportunity Grant in 1999 to study dendritic cells and mediated immunization. Dr. Steinman was recognized for his work in the 1970s, when he discovered that a new cell type that he called dendritic cell, which he thought could be important in the immune system. Dr. Steinman died from pancreatic cancer on September 30, just three days before the Nobel Committee's announcement.
Clinical Trials Matching
The American Cancer Society Clinical Trials matching Service is a free, confidential program that helps patients, their families and health care workers find cancer clinical trials most appropriate to a patient's medical and personal situation. Through a partnership with the Coalition of Cancer Cooperative Groups, we can help you find research studies that are testing new drugs or methods to prevent, detect or treat cancer.
Click here to watch a short video on the importance of clinical trials
Cancer Prevention Study - 3
EXTENDED ENROLLMENT! You can join the movement for more birthdays and fight back against cancer by enrolling in a new research study called the Cancer Prevention Study - 3 (CPS-3). The American Cancer Society’s Epidemiology Research Program is inviting men and women between the ages of 30 and 65 years who have no personal history of cancer to join this historic research study. The ultimate goal is to enroll 500,000 adults from various racial/ethnic backgrounds from across the U.S. By joining CPS-3, you can help us understand how to prevent cancer, which will save lives and give people more of their most precious resource: time. More time with their families and friends, more memories, more celebrations...and more birthdays. Click here for more information or click below to watch videos about the study.
CPS-3: How to Create a World With Less Cancer video
American Cancer Society Cancer Prevention Study-3 video
Cancer Facts and Figures
The American Cancer Society tracks cancer occurrence, including the number of deaths, cases, and how long people survive after diagnosis. The Society also tracks data regarding behaviors that influence the risk of developing cancer and the use of screening tests. Listed below are the different types of cancer facts and figures available. Click here to download the data.
The good news in 2011 – statistics point to a steady reduction in overall cancer death rates in the United States, a decline that means nearly 900,000 deaths from cancer were avoided between 1990 and 2007. The bad news – this progress has not benefited all segments of the population equally. Cancer death rates for individuals with the least education are more than twice those of the most educated. Watch a video in which Dr. Otis W. Brawley, MD, FACP, Chief Medical and Scientific Officer, discusses in greater detail these findings and other highlights of the newly released Cancer Facts and Figures.
Access 