Stamford-based non-profit, Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT), the nation’s only charitable organization dedicated exclusively to funding cancer gene and immunotherapy research, is raising awareness for World Cancer Day on Sunday, February 4. World Cancer Day is a global event taking place every year on the 4th of February. This event unites the world’s population in the fight against cancer. ACGT is encouraging everyone who has been touched by cancer or knows someone touched by cancer, to post and share their dreams for a cancer-free world on social media with the tags #WorldCancerDay #WeCanICan and #FightCancer.
This year alone, 1.6 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed in the United States. Currently, there are 8.8 million people that die from cancer worldwide every year — 4 million of those are aged 30 to 69 years of age. 15,780 children and adolescents in 2014 were diagnosed with cancer in the U.S. The most common cancers are breast, cancer, lung and bronchus cancer, prostate cancer, colon and rectum cancer, bladder cancer, melanoma of the skin, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, thyroid cancer, kidney and renal pelvis cancer, leukemia, endometrial cancer and pancreatic cancer. Cancer mortality is higher among men than women. The number of people living beyond a cancer diagnosis reached nearly 14.5 million in 2014 and is expected to be almost 19 million by 2024. That is good news — it means that more people are living longer even after a cancer diagnosis. National expenditures for cancer care in the United States totaled nearly $125 billion in 2010 and is estimated to reach $156 billion in 2020.
World Cancer Day aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about the disease, pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action. The primary objective is that for this one day, on Sunday, February 4, to get as many people as possible around the globe to talk about cancer and how to prevent, fight and treat it. For this one day, organizations like Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy, are encouraging the world to post “signs for change” - statements about fighting cancer on a sign - and post to social media.
Donations to cancer non-profits are also a great way to bring about positive change to support breakthrough cancer research and treatment options. ACGT was one of the early funders of immunotherapy back in the early 2000's when the science was deemed a "risky" proposition. Nevertheless, ACGT believed in its promise of successfully treating cancer at the cellular and gene level. Fast forward to 2017 when the first-ever gene therapy for cancer was approved by the FDA, Kymriah for relapsed pediatric leukemia, a treatment that received early funding from ACGT. With more funding, more breakthrough research treating cancer can be accomplished. To help, donate to acgtfoundation.org.
About Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT)
Established in 2001, ACGT is the nation’s only non-profit dedicated exclusively to cell and gene therapy treatments for all types of cancer. One hundred percent of contributions go directly to research. Since its inception, ACGT has funded some of the underlying science that has resulted in the formation of either licensing agreements or biotech companies including Novartis, Ziopharm, Juno, Tmunity, Turnstone Biologics, all of which are in various stages of bringing new treatments to patients. ACGT has funded 55 grants in the U.S. and Canada to conduct and accelerate critically needed innovative research. 36 of those grants have gone to Young Investigators and 19 grants to Clinical Investigators, totaling more than $28 million in funding. ACGT is located at 96 Cummings Point Road, Stamford, Connecticut 06902;203-358-5055. To learn more, visit acgtfoundation.org or join the ACGT community on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube at @acgtfoundation.
Photo Caption: Barbara Gallagher and Margaret Cianci with the Alliance for Cancer Gene Therapy (ACGT), the nation's only charitable organization dedicated exclusively to funding cancer gene and immunotherapy research, is raising awareness for World Cancer Day on Sunday, February 4. ACGT is encouraging everyone who knows someone touched by cancer to to post and share their dreams for a cancer-free world on social media with the tags #WorldCancerDay #WeCanICan and #FightCancer.
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