NFCR Impact

Discoveries our funding made possible

For more than five decades, NFCR has supported scientists pursuing questions that could change what we know — and what we can do — about cancer. Explore the discoveries, breakthroughs and advances that emerged from that work, and see how research supported by NFCR helped move ideas from the laboratory toward real-world impact.

Explore breakthrough stories Projects that need funding

Since 1980 · Dr. Harold F. DvorakRevealing how tumors build their blood supply

From research to impact

What can long-term research accomplish?

A breakthrough rarely begins as a breakthrough. It begins with a question, a hypothesis and a scientist willing to pursue an uncertain path.

NFCR has provided sustained support for researchers whose work has helped uncover new mechanisms of cancer, identify potential therapeutic targets, develop new approaches to treatment and advance the tools used to find future discoveries.

50+ yearsOf supporting cancer research and discovery
Scientists & research programsBacked across disciplines and generations
Discoveries with lasting impactFrom tumor biology and stem cells to targeted therapies and computational drug discovery

Breakthrough stories

Discoveries that changed what cancer research could do

Tumor Microenvironment & Angiogenesis

VEGF and anti-angiogenic treatment

Revealing how tumors build their blood supply

Dr. Harold F. Dvorak

Inaugural Szent-Györgyi Prize, 2006

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The challenge: Scientists knew tumors behaved differently from healthy tissue, but the mechanisms that enabled tumors to grow and sustain themselves were not fully understood.
NFCR’s role: NFCR began supporting Dr. Dvorak’s research in 1980, providing long-term support for his investigation into the relationship between tumors and blood vessels.
The discovery: Dr. Dvorak discovered tumor cells’ secretion of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), pioneering angiogenesis research. This pivotal discovery elucidated the mechanisms behind tumor-induced angiogenesis, the process by which tumors form new blood vessels to fuel their growth.
Why it matters: Understanding how tumors create their own blood supply opened a new avenue for cancer treatment: targeting the blood vessels that help tumors grow.

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Transformative Therapies Development

The HPV vaccine

Preventing cancer before it begins

Dr. Douglas R. Lowy & Dr. John T. Schiller

Szent-Györgyi Prize, 2018

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The challenge: Human papillomavirus (HPV) was known to be associated with cervical cancer, but preventing an infection that could eventually cause cancer presented a fundamentally different challenge from treating an existing tumor.
NFCR’s role: NFCR recognized Dr. Lowy and Dr. Schiller with the 2018 Szent-Györgyi Prize for their pioneering contributions to HPV vaccine development. NFCR has also highlighted Dr. Schiller’s view that their work was made possible in part through foundations such as NFCR that support innovative, unconventional research.
The discovery: Their research helped reveal how HPV’s outer L1 protein could form virus-like particles (VLPs) that mimic the virus without being infectious. These particles could stimulate antibodies capable of preventing HPV infection. Their work ultimately provided the technology underlying the FDA-approved HPV vaccines.
Why it matters: The HPV vaccines changed the possibilities for cancer prevention by allowing people to be protected against infections that can lead to cervical and other HPV-related cancers. Their work helped establish vaccination as a powerful tool in cancer prevention.

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Transformative Therapies Development

Gleevec & Precision Medicine

Proving cancer could be targeted at its molecular source

Dr. Alex Matter

Szent-Györgyi Prize, 2013

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The challenge: For much of cancer’s history, treatment was largely based on attacking rapidly dividing cells. A major question was whether cancer could instead be treated by targeting the specific molecular abnormality driving a tumor.
NFCR’s role: NFCR recognized Dr. Matter with the 2013 Szent-Györgyi Prize for his contribution to this transformation in cancer treatment.
The discovery: Dr. Matter played a central role in the development of Gleevec (imatinib), the first drug specifically targeting a molecular lesion in cancer. Rather than broadly attacking cancer cells, Gleevec was designed to interfere with the abnormal molecular signal driving particular cancers.
Why it matters: Gleevec transformed the treatment of Philadelphia chromosome-positive chronic myeloid leukemia (Ph+ CML) and also became important in Ph+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia. More broadly, its success demonstrated the potential of designing cancer treatments around the molecular characteristics of a disease — a foundation of modern targeted therapy and precision oncology.

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Transformative Therapies Development

CD34 and stem cell transplantation

Finding the cells that can rebuild blood

Dr. Curt Civin

National Inventor of the Year Award, 1999

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The challenge: Bone marrow contains the blood-forming stem cells needed to regenerate the body’s blood and immune systems. But scientists needed a reliable way to identify and isolate these rare cells before they could be used effectively in transplantation.
NFCR’s role: NFCR has supported Dr. Civin’s research since 1997, including his continuing work in blood cancer research.
The discovery: In 1984, Dr. Civin discovered CD34, a marker that could identify hematopoietic — or blood-forming — stem cells. His team subsequently developed methods for isolating CD34+ stem cells, opening new possibilities for stem-cell transplantation.
Why it matters: CD34+ stem-cell transplantation created new approaches for treating leukemia and other blood cancers. NFCR reports that the technology developed by Civin’s laboratory has been widely applied and has benefited thousands of patients.

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Transformative Therapies Development

A new standard of care for APL

Turning a deadly leukemia into a highly treatable disease

Dr. Zhen-Yi Wang & Dr. Zhu Chen

Szent-Györgyi Prize, 2012

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The challenge: Acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) was once one of the most rapidly fatal forms of leukemia. The disease caused immature blood cells to accumulate in the bone marrow, disrupting the body’s normal production of blood cells and platelets.
NFCR’s role: NFCR recognized Dr. Wang and Dr. Chen with the 2012 Szent-Györgyi Prize for their work leading to a new therapeutic approach for APL.
The discovery: Their collaborative research helped establish a treatment strategy combining all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) with arsenic trioxide. Rather than relying solely on conventional chemotherapy, the approach targeted the biology of APL itself. By 2000, the combination had produced a remission rate of 90% and a five-year survival rate of 95% in the results Wang described.
Why it matters: The work transformed APL from a disease with a grim prognosis into one of the most treatable forms of leukemia, demonstrating how understanding the biology of a cancer can fundamentally change its treatment.

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Computation & Cancer

The Screensaver LifeSaver Project

Turning millions of computers into a drug-discovery engine

Dr. Graham Richards

NFCR Centre for Computational Drug Design · Screensaver LifeSaver Project

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The challenge: Drug discovery can require screening enormous numbers of molecular structures to identify compounds that might interact with cancer-related targets. Traditional computing power made this process expensive and time-consuming.
NFCR’s role: NFCR supported Dr. Richards’ computational drug-design research beginning in 1982 and worked with him to establish the NFCR Centre for Computational Drug Design.
The breakthrough: The Screensaver LifeSaver Project transformed idle processing power from personal computers around the world into a virtual supercomputer. Between 2001 and 2007, more than 3.5 billion drug-like molecules were computationally screened against 12 cancer targets, producing tens of thousands of lead compounds for further analysis.
Why it matters: The project demonstrated a radically different way to accelerate early-stage drug discovery — using distributed computing to explore enormous chemical libraries at a scale that would otherwise require extraordinary computing resources. It showed how technology and public participation could expand the reach of cancer research.

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From discovery to patients

Research doesn’t end when the discovery is made

A discovery can become the starting point for years of additional research, testing and development.

Some NFCR-supported breakthroughs have helped reveal new ways to prevent cancer. Others have contributed to new treatments, improved understanding of disease or technologies that enable future discoveries.

The journey from laboratory finding to patient benefit is rarely linear — and no single researcher or organization does it alone. But every meaningful advance begins with research.

The whole point of basic research was to venture out into the unknown.

Dr. Albert Szent-GyörgyiNFCR co-founder · 1937 Nobel Laureate

Research makes cures possible

Every new discovery has the potential to change what we know about cancer — how it begins, how it spreads, how it can be detected, and how it can be treated.

Your support helps fund scientists working across cancer types to turn promising discoveries into life-saving options for patients.

Prefer to speak with someone? Call us to donate — 1-800-321-CURE.

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