Relay for Life

What your effort and contribution to Relay for Life accomplishes

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[June 16, 2018]  Relay for Life is one of the largest fundraising events in the country for the American Cancer Society (ACS). The ACS also receives support through galas, golf events, individual fundraisers, corporations and foundations and personal donations. Relay for Life is one of ACS’s best known brands – as it is in many communities.

The American Cancer Society (ACS, while a seemingly large organization, works hard for the most people affected by any kind of cancer. ACS is the largest non-governmental funder of cancer research in the U.S., investing more than $4.6 billion in research since 1946.

The American Cancer Society is there for scientists at pivotal points in their career – to give them the support they need to keep great research going or to take their ideas from dream to reality. We are proud to have helped nearly 20,000 investigators make important advances in prevention, early detection, treatment, and care for those with cancer.

Here are just 10 of the countless cancer advances ACS supported:

  1. Uncovering a key way to stop tumors from growing.

  2. Pioneering work in bone marrow transplants.

  3. Furthering knowledge of genes linked to breast cancer.

  4. Laying the groundwork for a new multiple myeloma treatment.

  5. Finding a key driver of the blood cancer chronic myeloid leukemia.

  6. Gaining insights that inspired researchers to investigate and confirm that tamoxifen can both treat and sometimes prevent breast cancer.

  7. Investigating new approaches that would make possible the first targeted cancer therapy to receive FDA approval.

  8. Performing studies that paved the way for the development of the breast cancer drug Herceptin.

  9. Confirming the link between smoking and lung cancer.

  10. Proving that obesity increases risk of premature death as well as establishing the link between obesity and death from certain types of cancer.

The American Cancer Society currently funds 31 research grants in Illinois totaling $18,815,000 at the following institutions, as of January 1, 2018:

  • Carle Foundation Hospital - 1 grant, $24,000.

  • Loyola University, Chicago - 3 grants, $1,584,000.

  • Northwestern University, Chicago Campus - 8 grants, $4,769,500.

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  • Northwestern University, Evanston Campus - 2 grants, $1,450,000.

  • Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science - 1 grant, $792,000.

  • University of Chicago - 12 grants, $7,280,500.

  • University of Illinois, Chicago - 4 grants, $2,915,000.

To accelerate progress against cancer – all cancers – ACS will double their annual research investment to $250 million a year by 2021. By taking what ACS has learned through research and translating it into action, ACS has contributed to a 26% decrease in the overall U.S. cancer death rate since 1991. That means that ACS has helped avoid nearly 2.4 million cancer deaths during that time.

ACS funds and conducts research to discover how people can take steps to reduce their cancer risk, and provide information on the causes of cancer – from environment to lifestyle choices to genetics, and more. ACS works to encourage healthy lifestyle choices – like avoiding tobacco, eating healthy, and being physically active – that could help to eliminate approximately 50 percent of deaths from cancer.

ACS publishes guidelines for health care professionals and lay people alike, to help individuals know what cancer screenings are right for them.

ACS believes no one should die of cancer because they cannot get the quality care they need. ACS is working to increase screening and reduce cancer risk for underserved communities and boost our investment in our transportation and lodging programs to help patients receive treatment and support.

ACS provides patients and caregivers with resources that can help improve – and even save – lives. From free rides to chemo, places to stay when treatment is far from home, and a live 24/7 helpline, ACS is here for everyone with cancer questions and concerns, when and where they need us.


[Janelle Jennings, American Cancer Society/LDN]

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