AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY, INC.
KENNESAW, GA

What made your cancer.org website experience challenging? [Please provide a link to the page if you experienced a technical issue.] Thank you for your feedback! We appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your comments. We review all feedback and work to provide a better experience. If you need immediate assistance, please call 1-800-227-2345, any time day or night. If you would like to unsubscribe/opt out from our communications, please follow this link: http://www.cancer.org/en/about-us/policies/opt-out-form.html What made your cancer.org website experience challenging? [Please provide a link to the page if you experienced a technical issue.] Thank you for your feedback! We appreciate you taking the time to provide us with your comments. We review all feedback and work to provide a better experience. If you need immediate assistance, please call 1-800-227-2345, any time day or night. If you would like to unsubscribe/opt out from our communications, please follow this link: http://www.cancer.org/en/about-us/policies/opt-out-form.html We’re here 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help guide you through your cancer experience. Whether you’ve recently been diagnosed, are currently going through treatment, or are caring for a loved one with cancer, we’re here with information, day-to-day help, and emotional support every step of the way. From free lodging and transportation to help making decisions about your care, we offer programs, services, and resources in our to help you on your journey. Giving you accurate, up-to-date information on cancer is one of our top priorities. You can find plenty of information here on the site, but if you still have questions, you can call our 24-7 helpline or check out some of our more in-depth publications. Whether it’s the middle of the afternoon or the middle of the night, our cancer information specialists are here to help. Have questions about treatment options or potential side effects? We have you covered. Need a ride to chemo or a place to stay when treatment is far away? We can help. Even if you just need a friendly ear, we’re here to help and can assist in more than 200 languages (via a language line) – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The American Cancer Society was founded in 1913 by 10 doctors and 5 laypeople in New York City. It was called the American Society for the Control of Cancer (ASCC). At that time, a cancer diagnosis meant near certain death. Rarely mentioned in public, this disease was steeped in fear and denial. Doctors sometimes did not tell their patients they had cancer, and patients often did not tell their friends and families that they had been diagnosed with it. , a monthly bulletin of cancer information; and recruiting doctors throughout the country to help educate the public. Over the past 100 years, the logo has changed many times. The current American Cancer Society logo presents a contemporary, powerful, and cohesive entity. The trapezoidal shape with the angled edge suggests forward movement, aspiration, and growth. The overall design creates the image of a flag being carried forth toward victory. This symbol is intended to unite people in the common goal to save lives from cancer. In 1935, there were 15,000 people active in cancer control throughout the United States. At the close of 1938, there was about 10 times that number. More than anything else, it was the Women’s Field Army that moved the American Cancer Society to the forefront of voluntary health organizations. In 1945, the ASCC was reorganized as the American Cancer Society. It was the beginning of a new era for the organization. World War II was over – the single greatest threat to modern democracy had been defeated – and the nation could at last focus its attention on the public health enemy at home. Many believed it was time for another bold move. In 1946, philanthropist Mary Lasker and her colleagues met this challenge, helping to raise more than $4 million for the Society – $1 million of which was used to establish and fund the Society’s groundbreaking research program. With the aid and assistance of dedicated volunteers like Lasker and Elmer Bobst, our research program began to bear fruit. In 1947, we also began our famous cancer signals campaign, a public education effort about the signs and symptoms of cancer. Making progress Around the same time the cancer signals campaign began, Dr. Sidney Farber, one of the Society’s first research grantees, achieved the first temporary cancer remission in a child with acute leukemia using the drug aminopterin, thus opening the modern era of chemotherapy for cancer treatment. It was just the beginning of how scientists the American Cancer Society supported early in their careers would go on to make great leaps in understanding and stopping cancer. Society-funded researchers have contributed to nearly every major cancer research breakthrough we’ve seen in the almost 70 years since the Society’s research program began. They’ve helped establish the link between cancer and smoking; demonstrated the effectiveness of the Pap test; developed cancer-fighting drugs and biological response modifiers such as interferon; dramatically increased the cure rate for childhood leukemia; proven the safety and effectiveness of mammography; and so much more. Since 1946, the American Cancer Society has invested more than $4 billion in research, recognizing and providing the funding 47 researchers needed to get started and go on to win the Nobel Prize. In the 1960s and 70s, the American Cancer Society began to expand its reach as an organization, working even harder to involve all sectors in its efforts to fight back against the disease. In the 60s, the Society was instrumental in the development of the Surgeon General’s report on the link between smoking and cancer when early Society-sponsored studies confirmed the connection. This upheaval in the perception of smoking laid the groundwork for tobacco control progress – and for the corresponding lives saved – that continues today.