UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center Receives $1M Donation from Pfizer for Early Cancer Detection
Funding will support Moores Cancer Center’s efforts to develop a unique, large-scale program to drive early detection and prevention of cancer among San Diegans, focusing on those in greatest need in our community.
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Moores Cancer Center at the University of California San Diego has received a $1 million donation from pharmaceutical company Pfizer to support an innovative new program designed to bolster early cancer detection and prevention efforts. The donation will help build a bridge bringing research discoveries to community health centers and improving access to early detection tests for colorectal, breast, cervical and prostate cancer.
While early detection of cancer is proven to improve survival rates among patients, it is estimated that approximately half of cancers are detected at later stages, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Evidence shows that detecting cancers at the earliest possible stages leads to a substantial improvement in survival.
Thanks to Pfizer’s support, Moores Cancer Center will develop and implement the Early Detection and Prevention of Cancer Initiative to increase awareness of and access to cancer prevention and screening services, with a focus on helping individuals in greatest need in San Diego County.
“We are grateful to Pfizer for their visionary support of UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center to develop and implement this novel program,” said Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences John M. Carethers, MD. “This initiative is designed to address the unequal burden of cancer morbidity and mortality for our local community. Our goal is to save lives.”
Cancer is the #1 cause of death in San Diego County. Moores Cancer Center researchers identified colorectal, breast, cervical and prostate cancer as target cancers for community engagement based on their incidence and mortality rates in the community’s patient population, and low current screening rates across San Diego county. The target cancers also have existing evidence-based screening strategies, including novel technologies that could be easier to carry out in community centers. Implementation of evidence-based strategies has the potential for high impact by saving lives.
Jeff Settleman with Diane Simeone at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center. The donation will from Pfizer will allow Moores Cancer Center to launch the Early Detection and Prevention of Cancer Initiative to increase awareness of and access to cancer prevention and screening services.
“This forward-looking initiative represents the future of oncology. The cancer treatments we provide have the potential to be significantly more effective against tumors identified at their earliest stages,” said Director of Moores Cancer Center Diane Simeone, MD. “Moores Cancer Center and our outstanding team of clinicians and researchers are ideally positioned to deliver innovative care delivery approaches and advanced diagnostic technologies to members of our communities with limited access to health care to identify cancer much earlier. We are so grateful to Pfizer for their partnership on this bold effort to save lives.”
Moores Cancer Center, in partnership with its community advisory board and with support from Pfizer, will lead efforts to improve cancer screening and prevention in the community, focusing on innovative strategies to increase participation in evidence-based screening approaches that are known to be effective. Efforts will support prevention and screening across tumor types such as colorectal, breast, cervical and prostate cancers.
“At Pfizer, we partner across the Oncology community to meet the needs of people with cancer and help everyone have access to quality cancer care,” said Jeffrey Settleman, Chief Scientific Officer for Oncology Research and Development, Pfizer. “We’re proud to support the UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center as they develop and implement community-focused initiatives to reach people living with cancer where they are, including improved local screening and prevention programs.”
To implement the plans, Moores Cancer Center’s Community Outreach and Engagement leaders will expand engagement around preventative testing by leveraging established networks with Federally Qualified Health Centers throughout the county. The initiative will also include the collection and management of data and biospecimens that can be used to study key scientific questions.
With Pfizer’s transformational support, the company became the inaugural member of Moores Cancer Center’s Foundational Partnership Program. This new partnership program will serve to connect industry partners and Moores Cancer Center with the goal of fostering collaborative relationships to streamline pathways of early detection, discovery, and treatment of cancer to benefit all members of the community we serve.
To learn more about Moores Cancer Center, the region’s only NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center, please visit moores.ucsd.edu.
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