Chairman & CEO Message
Dear Friends,
Fourteen years ago, when the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF) was founded, the outlook for prostate cancer patients was bleak. Cancer of the prostate was the "hidden cancer." Despite its common occurrence in men, it received little attention from cancer researchers and, even worse, little government or private funding for research into a cure. Frankly, it was thought to be a cancer not worth fighting.
The Prostate Cancer Foundation didn't see it that way. We saw a cancer that was so common, it was second only to skin cancer in the frequency of its occurrence in the United States. We saw a cancer that would afflict one in every six American men and would take the lives of upwards of 30,000 men each year. We saw a cancer that was hard to understand, hard to treat and hard to keep from coming back. We saw a cancer whose treatments sometimes left many men incontinent, impotent and upset, damaging the quality of life not only for the victims of prostate cancer but for their loved ones as well.
We also saw a cancer that had set its sights on a huge cohort of American men: the 38 million born during the baby boom between 1946 and 1964, who were about to start turning 50 - the prime target zone for prostate cancer. We knew we had to do something - fast - to give these men hope.
In short, we saw a cancer that was well worth fighting, and a battle in which time was of the essence. So the Prostate Cancer Foundation set out on a fast-track mission: to harness more of society's resources - both financial and human - to find a cure as quickly as possible.
Looking back, there is much to be proud of. We believe we have certainly helped change how people view prostate cancer. We are particularly gratified to have changed the mind-set in medical research, where being a prostate cancer researcher was once tantamount to "career suicide." Now, we have many talented investigators seeking PCF grants and focusing their energies on prostate cancer research. Some of the most talented and dedicated researchers in the world are now working to find a cure for prostate cancer.
We have made great progress, but we have not yet found a cure. And the clock is still ticking.
Before we tell you about what lies ahead, we want to take a moment to thank you for your support of the Prostate Cancer Foundation and review what the PCF has achieved. Among the highlights:
• In just 14 years, the Prostate Cancer Foundation has grown to be the largest philanthropic source of funding for prostate cancer research in the world.
• The PCF has raised more than $300 million and provided funding for prostate cancer research to 1,400 researchers at 100 institutions worldwide.
• We have pioneered a streamlined approach to grantmaking, dramatically slashing the time it takes for researchers to apply for funding, thus leaving them much more time to actually seek a cure for prostate cancer.
• We created a Therapy Consortium of eight leading cancer centers across the country dedicated to working together to quickly develop and test treatments for advanced prostate cancer.
• We sponsor a one-of-a-kind annual Scientific Retreat for thought leaders in prostate cancer research, making it possible for the brightest minds in the field from academia, government and the biopharmaceutical industry to meet, share ideas and form new partnerships.
• We have aggressively advocated for increased federal and state funding of prostate cancer research, helping produce a 20-fold increase in annual appropriations to $500 million.
• We have worked tirelessly with corporate partners and other prostate cancer advocates to raise awareness about the risks of prostate cancer and what men can do to spare themselves from suffering from this deadly disease.
Perhaps most significantly, there are now 13 FDA-approved therapies for the treatment of prostate cancer, compared to the seven that were available when the PCF was founded 14 years ago. The therapies include hormonal therapies that inhibit the growth of prostate cancer cells, radioactive seeds that kill prostate cancer cells, and drugs that reduce the bone pain often associated with metastatic prostate cancer. These therapies, however, are far from a cure and most have significant side effects. The pipeline of future experimental treatments is enriched by PCF-funded research. Examples of promising areas of research supported by the PCF include: therapies that target angiogenesis (cutting off the blood supply of cancer cells); genetic therapies that focus on the genes that cause prostate cancer; immune therapies that stimulate the body to recognize and destroy prostate cancer cells; nutrition research that focus on the role of diet in containing prostate cancer; androgen receptor therapies that take aim at the growth-controlling hormones that fuel prostate cancer; and inhibitors of cellular pathways that produce signals resulting in uncontrolled growth. These are all very promising areas of research that we must continue to support.
Despite all this progress, we haven't found a cure yet, and the clock keeps ticking. That's why we are asking for your help.
With your help, we can fund more promising research projects. Today, because of limited available funds, we are forced to turn down dozens of grant requests. More funding will help us work toward more efficient clinical trial designs and develop clearer paths for regulatory approval of prostate cancer treatments. With your help, we can decode the heterogeneity of prostate cancer, giving us a far better picture of exactly who is most at risk and how best to treat them.
We are extremely grateful for the support we have received from such partners as Major League Baseball, Safeway, the PGA Champions Tour and many others. We thank all of our individual contributors, without whom we could not have made this progress. We salute all the medical and scientific professionals in academia, government and industry who have joined this struggle.
This is a crucial moment in the history of prostate cancer. With the research now underway, it is possible that a man diagnosed with prostate cancer today will actually live long enough to see a treatment developed that will save his life. We're getting closer to that day, but it's not here yet. So we are continuing to seek the funds needed to find a cure. We are committed to winning this battle. We hope you will join us by generously supporting the Prostate Cancer Foundation.
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