Cancer Research and the Importance of Philanthropy
We are living during a revolutionary period of remarkable advances in the field of cancer medicine. Over the past five years, significant progress has been made in research to identify genetic alterations that are inherited or acquired that contribute to cancer susceptibility. This research is leading to improvements in diagnostic techniques to detect cancer at its earliest stage of development when there is the best hope for effective therapy. In addition, our greatly improved understanding of the human genome, combined with the ability to screen for genetic signatures, has led to the identification of new drug targets for different cancers. Rapid advances in technologies such as synthetic chemistry have made it possible to develop customized molecules that specifically address these targets and interfere with or neutralize the cancer process. This is driving the development of new highly selective and specific therapeutic agents, as well as improved prognostic methods that help determine how aggressive treatment should be. Targeted therapies that are now tailored for individual patients based on the identification of specific characteristics of their tumor cells mark the onset of the age of personalized medicine.
Improved imaging and screening techniques and other diagnostic tools, along with more effective treatments has propelled the gradual decline in cancer mortality rates especially among some of the most common cancers - colorectal, breast, and prostate. But worldwide, over 7.6 million people died from cancer in 2007. Most of our lives have been touched either directly or indirectly by cancer. Philanthropy is critical to moving forward cancer research and developing new cancer therapies:
We are now in the midst of the longest sustained period of flat government funding for cancer research in history. When adjusted for inflation, cancer research funding has actually declined 12 percent since 2004. The National Cancer Institute is currently able to fund just 20 percent of the grant applications it receives. Without additional support, the opportunity to build on the extraordinary progress to date will be lost or delayed. Philanthropists have the opportunity to directly enhance progress being made on the front lines of clinical cancer research today. All of the proceeds raised by the Wine Advocate Fund for Philanthropy will go directly to cutting-edge research at two of the top clinical cancer research institutions in the world: The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. Charity Navigator has bestowed on both of these research centers the coveted four-star rating for excellence in organizational performance and efficiency. These institutes are making significant progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer. They have continued to move cancer research forward in large part because of the benevolence of concerned individuals.
Marc Cohen, Sean and Joslyn Dobson, Susan Frank,
Robert and Pat Parker, Pierre Antoine Rovani, Bill and Rebecca Sanders