UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA COMMUNITY

Dear Colleagues:

As you prepare to file your State taxes this year, I would like to let you know about an easy way to help UC researchers and others across California in the fight against cancer.

Near the end of California’s 540 Income Tax Return, there is a section that lists funds to which taxpayers can contribute. Two of them are highly regarded cancer research programs administered by the University of California. Line 405 is for the California Breast Cancer Research Fund. Line 413 is the California Cancer Research Fund.

Both funds support health education and biomedical research to advance the fight against deadly cancers. Please consider making a donation. Any contribution, large or small, makes a real difference, and 95 percent of contributions go directly to research and education.

These programs have a real impact on a disease that touches so many of us. For example, through the California Cancer Research Fund, administered by UC’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, scientists are working on better ways to detect cancer and personalize treatment by identifying and characterizing tumor cells that are circulating in the blood stream. This so-called “liquid biopsy” could increase survival rates and potentially eliminate traditional biopsies, which are costly, invasive and take an emotional and physical toll on patients.

The California Breast Cancer Research Program is funding equally exciting work. For instance, a pilot project at the Pacific Medical Center is studying whether women can reduce their risk of breast cancer by avoiding personal care products that contain chemicals that are known to mimic human estrogens in the body. Breast cancer survivors provided the impetus for this study and continue to be involved in a variety of ways – and will help publicize the findings as they occur so that others can use the information to reduce their breast cancer risk.

By supporting this kind of important research, we can lower the incidence of cancer, increase survival rates, and help UC researchers discover the next big breakthrough.

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours very truly,

Janet Napolitano

President

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