MISSION
IMPACT

MISSION & HISTORY.

Our Mission is to Save Lives, Celebrate Lives, and Lead the Fight for a World without Cancer.

The American Cancer Society is the largest private funder of cancer research in the United States, with more than $5 billion invested in live-saving research for cancer prevention, detection and treatment.

One in two men and one in three women will get cancer in their lifetime. Due to the pandemic, diagnoses for six major cancer types dropped by nearly 50% and 43% of current patients missed routine appointments. In 2020, more than 600,000 Americans died of cancer. That’s why we are taking action.

We are activists. We've contributed to a 31% drop in cancer death rates since 1991 in the US. ACS CAN saw success this past year with the passing of the Henrietta Lacks Enhancing Research Act. In 2020, 12 Million individuals have lost their employer sponsored insurance – disproportionately Black and Hispanic people.

We serve communities. Increasing equitable access to care and reducing health disparities is an ongoing priority. More than 1 Million screenings have been provided in underserved communities, and we will continue to expand screening capacities.

We provide direction. We are the #1 trusted source for cancer information with over 100 million visits to cancer.org annually. We offer a live hotline to provide answers and support 24/7 which receives more than 1.3 million calls annually. 277 partnerships with California health systems work to increase cancer screenings and HPV vaccination rates.

We are a leader in transformational cancer breakthroughs. As the largest private, not-for-profit funder of innovative cancer research, we have invested more than $5 Billion since 1946 to improve outcomes. $17M was invested in Los Angeles for research in 2020 alone.