Why Give Wednesday: May is National Cancer Research Month

What exactly is cancer research?

By definition, cancer research is the process of studying cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment and cure. Most cancer research can be organized into three categories: basic, translational and clinical. Basic research involves learning more about how a cancer cell is different from a regular cell. In many cases, scientists will study models of cancer that are grown in a laboratory or in animal models. Clinical cancer research deals with patients directly. Scientists use clinical research to test everything from new surgical techniques to new treatments. Translational cancer research combines the previous two methods by taking the results of basic research, bringing it to the clinic for patients, then studying the new results and effects further back in the laboratory.

Why is cancer research important?

Almost everyone in the United States can say he or she knows or has known someone who has been diagnosed with cancer. According to the American Cancer Society, the U.S. alone can expect more than 1.6 million diagnoses of various types of cancer, and more than half a million deaths attributed to cancer just this year. While these numbers are still high, the amount of people who have survived cancer is higher than ever before. Our understanding of the disease and its treatments expands further with every passing day. Why? Because developing cancer research has given us more opportunities than ever before to save lives. 

Why give to the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center? 

UAB is one of the nation's leading cancer research centers and is the only NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center in a six-state area that includes Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina. In the past, the Cancer Center's physician-scientists have helped generate some of the most significant breakthroughs in cancer research, and translate this research into patient treatments, often long before any other hospital.

The Cancer Center's mission is to provide the highest quality of life to any person diagnosed with cancer, while progressing that world's understanding of cancer and translating this knowledge into prevention, detection, treatment and survivorship. The people who work every day at the Cancer Center intend to eliminate cancer as a major public health problem, and every donation provides the support to one day realize this vision. 

Visit our website for more information. Your support is greatly appreciated! To donate, click here.