May is Cancer Research Month
Raising Awareness of the Quest to Cure, Understand, and Prevent Cancer
May 18, 2009
 |
|
| Norris Cotton Cancer Center researcher William Kinlaw, MD, at his microscope. |
In 2007, through the efforts of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the U.S. Congress designated May as National Cancer Research Month. At Norris Cotton Cancer Center, we're participating in the AACR's national campaign to raise awareness of the contributions research institutions such as the Cancer Center make to the prevention, treatment, and cure of cancer.
The following sections highlight key aspects of the Cancer Center's mission.
Clinical Trials
At any one time, Norris Cotton Cancer Center has 100-175 open clinical trials involving all types of cancers in adults and children, including Phase I clinical trials and survivorship and palliative clinical trials.
A clinical trial is one of the final steps in a long and careful cancer research process that is looking for better ways to prevent, diagnose, or treat cancer. Clinical trials test new medical approaches in cancer patients, and are important to developing new treatments for cancer. Many of the "standard treatments" that cancer patients receive today were developed based on the results of previous clinical trials.
Recent Research Stories
- Targeting Spot 14 and CLA: New Hope in the Battles Against Breast Cancer and Obesity
- Looking for Cancer's Fingerprint Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR)
- Dartmouth Researchers Identify Potential Cancer Target
Patient Story
"From the beginning, my wife Margaret and I were looking at all the possibilities for my treatment... We were interested in the clinical trials right away." —David, Wilmot, NH
Research Programs
The Cancer Center's 135 cancer research scientists lead 200+ active research projects in the following areas:
- Cancer Epidemiology and Chemoprevention, involving multidisciplinary interaction between laboratory investigators, biostatisticians, epidemiologists, and clinicians who work to understand the etiology and mechanisms involved in the chemoprevention of cancer.
- Prevention and Control of Cancer, seeking to reduce cancer risk and mortality and to enhance the quality of care and quality of life through research designed to understand and improve the health of individuals and populations.
- Molecular Therapeutics, fostering the exchange of ideas, cooperation, and collaboration leading to translation of basic research into the clinic, and to use basic research to answer clinical questions related to improving strategies for the treatment of cancer.
- Cancer Mechanisms and Genetics, supporting interdisciplinary collaborations and accelerating progress along the translational continuum between gene discovery and genotype-informed molecular treatments.
- Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy, creating an interdisciplinary environment in which important scientific questions in cancer immunology can be addressed and in which the development of new immunotherapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer is facilitated.
- Cancer Imaging and Radiobiology, promoting the incorporation of imaging, radiobiology, biophysics, and engineering approaches into the development and evaluation of new cancer diagnostic and treatment strategies.
More about the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Campaign
The goal of the AACR's campaign is to raise awareness of the critical advances in cancer research made by its more than 28,000 members and cancer researchers worldwide.
Visit the AACR's website to learn more.
