Fewer Cancer Deaths: $73.6 M For Research

The American Cancer Society came out with a new report on Tuesday, which shows that cancer deaths fell 19 percent for men and 11 percent for women between 1990 and 2005.

And new research with the intent of dropping those numbers even further will be funded with $73.6 million provided by network viewers and corporate sponsorships in the Stand Up To Cancer initiative. The money will fund cancer research for five teams working throughout the United States. CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric appeared Wednesday on The Early Show with the announcement, a year after she joined fellow anchors, Charles Gibson and Brian Williams in launching the effort.

"So many people have been touched by cancer, one in every two men will be diagnosed in his lifetime, one in every three women," Couric said. "So clearly this struck a nerve. We were very, very happy with the outcome."

Dr. Ray DuBois, of The University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, who was part of the selection team that awarded grants, and Dr. Craig Thompson, of the University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, who received one of the grants for pancreatic cancer research, joined Couric on The Early Show.

DuBois said to fight cancer bringing together all the country's best talent is the key.

"We want to bring these elite scientists together who are on the cutting edge, very rigorous, rapid reviews, so can we can deploy these funds as quickly as possible," he said, "and really bring people together regardless of where they are at geographically, and the best and brightest scientists to focus on this problem."

Couric said the importance is to get as many ideas funded as possible because only one in 10 is federally funded.

"That leaves possibly nine brilliant ideas that might have life-altering impact," she said.

One of the ideas funded was a team led by Thompson to find new ways of treating pancreatic cancer.

"He's getting at the heart of the matter," DuBois said, "what fuels the cancer. He wants to disrupt that process."

Thompson's team is just one of the five dream teams, comprised of seven leaders and 31 principal researchers from over 20 leading institutions, with 337 people participating in total.

"We're giving them the tools they need to come up with better diagnostic tests and research, and hopefully it will bear fruit," Couric said. "So many people suffer from this disease. We want to give them more options to either extend life or cure the cancer."

If you would like to make a donation, please visit Stand Up To Cancer.