Thirty Years of Advancing Cancer Research and Care 

In the last 30 years, discoveries made through research have fueled great improvements in cancer prevention, treatment, and care. Major progress against cancer has been made, and steady investment both in scientific studies and in the careers of researchers has led to transformations in how doctors treat and prevent cancer today.

Since the first research grant given in 1984, the Conquer Cancer Foundation has been a staunch supporter of cancer research and progress through its ever-expanding Grants and Awards Program. The success of the Program, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, and the contributions to progress against cancer that have resulted from it are evident in the papers being published by Foundation-funded researchers in leading medical journals, the scientific presentations they’re giving at major cancer meetings, and the identification of their work as major advances in publications such as ASCO’s annual Clinical Cancer Advances report.

Highlighted Studies at the 2013 Annual Meeting

Earlier this month, the exciting work of several past and present Foundation grantees was highlighted in the official ASCO Annual Meeting press program.

Richard Carvajal, MD, received a 2010 Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Career Development Award (CDA) to support his phase II study, which demonstrates that a new MEK inhibitor called selumetinib is the first drug to improve clinical outcomes in patients with advanced melanoma of the eye, a rare disease that affects only about 2,000 people in the United States. He is also the recipient of a 2008 Conquer Cancer Foundation of ASCO Young Investigator Award (YIA).

Marcia Brose, MD, PhD, recipient of a 2000 YIA, gave a prestigious plenary presentation on the results of a phase III clinical trial that shows that the targeted drug sorafenib (Nexavar) is likely the first effective therapy for a common form of advanced thyroid cancer that is resistant to standard treatments. This is the first time a kinase inhibitor like sorafenib has been evaluated in a phase III trial for this type of cancer.

Roy Herbst, MD, PhD, recipient of a 1997 YIA and 1999 CDA, presented findings on a phase I study that shows promising anticancer effects of an anti-PD-L1 drug in a variety of advanced cancers, with the strongest responses being seen in patients with non–small cell lung cancer, melanoma, and in patients who tested positive for the PD-L1 marker.

Please join us in celebrating and supporting the impact that the Grants and Awards Program is making by donating at www.conquercancerfoundation.org/donate. ■