Mission and Strategy
Our Mission is to accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines that prevent cancer.
Our Strategy is to support research on prevention of inherited cancers as a path towards elimination of all cancers.
Our Mission is to accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines that prevent cancer.
Our Strategy is to support research on prevention of inherited cancers as a path towards elimination of all cancers.
Our Vision is the elimination of cancer.
“One in 5 men and 1 in 6 women worldwide will develop cancer in their lifetime.” World Health Organization
“Thirty to 50% of all cancers are preventable through lifestyle changes and vaccination.” World Health Organization
Ten to 15% of people with cancers have inherited a mutation in a known cancer gene.
The most common hereditary cancer syndrome is Lynch Syndrome, which affects 1 in every 300 individuals.
Ninety-five percent of people without a diagnosis of cancer but who carry a mutation in a Lynch Syndrome gene do not know they have Lynch Syndrome.
This knowledge would allow them to take preventative measures and save their own lives.
There are approximately 20,000 genes and many intervening sequences in the human genome. We know a little bit about 4,000 of the genes.
For inherited cancer syndromes, we have evidence that 80 of those genes, when mutated, predispose to cancer.
Some cancers are caused by infectious agents and can be prevented with vaccines (HBV, HPV) or antibiotics (H. Pylori).
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality estimates that in 2015 the total of all health care expenditures for cancer in the US was $80.2 billion [1].
This would have been enough to pay the salaries of approximately 1.3 million teachers for 1 year [2].
[1] ACS, Cancer facts 2019; [2] $60,000/year average salary in the US