Tumor Research Initiative

We're changing what it means to be diagnosed with cancer

When Abbie Stewart awoke one morning with a pain under her arm, she couldn't begin to imagine how much her life was about to change. She soon learned she had breast cancer, and before she had scarcely enough time to get over the shock of her diagnosis, she was on the fast track to surgery to remove the tumor. With her cancer already at an advanced stage, doctors also took out more than two dozen cancerous lymph nodes during the operation.

Despite the surgery, Abbie's doctor told her that she'd need additional therapy and that her chances for survival were uncertain with any type of treatment. She opted for aggressive therapy at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Although her illness would prove to be long and challenging, Abbie pulled through. Today, she's thankful to be one of the lucky survivors.

Unfortunately, cancer treatment is still a long and difficult road for many patients. More than 1,500 people in the United States continue to die each day from some form of the disease. We believe it doesn't have to be that way.

Through innovative research, we're changing what it means to wake up to a cancer diagnosis, just as Abbie did. Our world-renowned scientists are discovering new ways to detect cancers earlier, when cure rates are highest; developing effective treatments with fewer side effects; and even learning how to prevent cancers from starting.

It's all about survival — and a better quality of life

We are determined to improve the chances of survival and quality of life for people with cancer and those at risk of developing the disease. Building on our outstanding accomplishments in leukemia and other blood cancers, we're making great strides in solid-tumor cancers — cancers that affect organs other than the blood. Some of the most common solid-tumor cancers include:

• Breast cancer
• Prostate cancer
• Gastrointestinal cancer (colorectal, pancreatic, esophageal and liver)
• Gynecologic cancer (cervical, ovarian, vaginal and uterine)
• Lung cancer

Through our Tumor Research Initiative, we are finding new ways to detect these tumors at an early stage. We are constantly working toward the best hope for survival and we are creating better therapies for treating them once they're found.

To do this, we are focusing on how and why solid tumors develop and are translating these discoveries to the clinic to deliver outstanding patient care. This is such an important goal that we have united with a team of oncologists, surgeons and other clinical specialists at UW Medicine and Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center, our partners in the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Through this partnership we are ensuring that the best new cancer treatments are rapidly made available to patients.

Finding cancer early is always the best hope for survival

For many common cancers, when the disease is caught early, nine out of 10 lives can be saved. Tragically, many tumors are detected when they are more advanced. Based on our groundbreaking discoveries in the basic biology of cancer cells, we are pioneering new approaches to detect cancer earlier, including developing blood tests for earlier diagnosis. Already, our research teams have determined that markers in the blood may allow for more accurate early detection of ovarian cancer. They have also developed a cancer-screening method that has boosted survival rates for esophageal cancer from 5 percent to 80 percent. And, we're refining technologies like mammography, ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to image hard-to-detect cancers more effectively.

Innovative therapies give new hope to patients with advanced cancer

While many early stage cancers can be cured with surgery, advanced cancer often requires chemotherapy. Unfortunately, most chemotherapy damages healthy cells along with the cancer cells — and causes painful side effects in the process. We believe that the cure shouldn't be more painful than the disease itself. To address this, we are developing and testing effective ways to target only the cancer cells, such as cancer vaccines and new drugs with fewer side effects. We've created a promising vaccine that may prevent breast-cancer recurrence, and we have developed therapies that harness a patient's own immune system to fight advanced ovarian cancer.

To prevent cancer, we need to know the risk factors

What causes cancer? It's a frequently asked question, and the answer is complex. Tumors develop from a combination of the genes we inherit, what we eat, how much we exercise, and other lifestyle factors such as smoking. The Hutchinson Center houses the world's largest program dedicated to cancer-prevention research, and we are using this expertise to discover new ways to stop cancers from developing. For example, we've found that heavy smoking doubles a man's risk of developing prostate cancer. We've also shown that moderate regular exercise reduces estrogen levels in postmenopausal women, which may explain why women who exercise regularly lower their risk for breast cancer.

How you can help

Private donations are essential to our continued success in developing better ways to prevent, detect and treat solid tumors. To learn more about how you can support Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center's Tumor Research Initiative, please visit our Web site at http://www.fhcrc.org/donating/support/ or call (206) 667-4399 or (800) 279-1618.