About the Society

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The American Cancer Society has been waging war against cancer for nearly a century, and our commitment to defeating the disease has never wavered. For the more than 1.4 million people who will be diagnosed with cancer this year, the American Cancer Society provides hope as we grow closer each day to finding a cure.

For nearly a century, the American Cancer Society has fought for every birthday threatened by every cancer in every community. By taking what we’ve learned through research and turning it into what we do, we have contributed to a 15 percent decrease in the overall cancer death rate between the early 1990s and 2005. That means that we helped avoid about 650,000 cancer deaths and created the potential for more birthday celebrations. Overall, 11 million cancer survivors in America will celebrate a birthday this year.

Together with our millions of supporters, the American Cancer Society saves lives and creates more birthdays by:

  • Helping you stay well by taking steps to prevent cancer or detect it early, when it is most treatable. We offer tips, tools, and online resources to help you live a healthy lifestyle to reduce your cancer risk, and we help you understand what cancer screenings are right for you.
  • Helping you get well by being in your corner around the clock and guiding you through every step of the cancer experience. We provide information to help you and your loved ones make decisions about care, help you find moral support from others who have faced cancer, and offer free services like transportation to and from cancer treatment or a free place to stay while receiving treatment far from home.
  • Finding cures by funding and conducting groundbreaking research into cancer’s causes, cures, and treatments. As the largest non-governmental funder of cancer research in the United States, having spent more than $3.4 billion on cancer research since 1946, we’ve played a role in nearly every major cancer breakthrough in recent history.
  • Fighting back by working with lawmakers everywhere to pass laws to defeat cancer and by rallying communities around the globe to join our fight.

For the first time in history, cancer incidence rates are on a decline. With your help, we will continue to make progress toward a cure by fighting cancer on all fronts:

Research
As the largest non-governmental funder of cancer research in the nation, the Society has contributed more than $3.4 billion to cancer research since the inception of its research grants program in 1946. The Society has been a part of every major advance related to cancer in history.

Education
Communicating vital information about prevention and early detection to hospitals, doctors, and in communities nationwide.

Advocacy
Working with lawmakers at the local and national level to ensure that cancer-related issues remain a national priority.

Patient Services
Through various patient service programs, community support groups across the nation, and informational resources at cancer.org and 1-800-227-2345, the American Cancer Society is there for patients and families, no matter where they are or when they need help.