The American Cancer Society was founded in 1913 by 10 doctors and 5 laypeople in New York City. It was called the American Society for the Control of Cancer (ASCC). At that time, a cancer diagnosis meant near-certain death. Rarely mentioned in public, this disease was steeped in fear and denial.

At the American Cancer Society, we have a vision to end cancer as we know it, for everyone. We're improving the lives of cancer patients and their families through advocacy, research, and patient support to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.

Donate to the American Cancer Society. Your gift means we can continue to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families. Together, we can work to ensure everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.

In addition to achieving our 4 goals – prevent, detect, care and champion – we will transform research to have maximum impact by: Involving patients, caregivers and survivors meaningfully in all aspects of research – from setting priorities to participating in research studies and evaluating outcomes.

Our vision for a better future A world where: Some types of cancer are effectively eliminated. Many more are prevented from developing in the first place. People who do develop cancer are diagnosed at the earliest possible stage so they can be successfully treated.

(1) It is the second leading cause of death in the United States - more than 550,000 people will die from cancer this year. (2) Cancer is the most costly illness in the United States and people with cancer often have high out-of-pocket health care costs.

Cancer Charities

It's built around 4 objectives – to discover, detect, prevent, and treat – so that progress in understanding the fundamental biology of cancer leads to new prevention measures, tests and treatments.

Objectives of the Cancer Awareness Program. Create cancer awareness and remove the stigma and fear attached. Help people recognize the early signs and symptoms of cancer, thus enabling them to seek treatment at an early stage.

It's built around 4 objectives – to discover, detect, prevent, and treat – so that progress in understanding the fundamental biology of cancer leads to new prevention measures, tests and treatments.

Your vision statement describes what you want to achieve in the future. How long to the “future” will depend on if this is for a project or your career. Your vision should inspire you, and in the case of a project vision, it should inspire your team.

Goals: Cancer Society funding is prioritised into areas that improve equity in cancer outcomes, which may include prevention, screening, psychosocial support, or survivorship.