Since 1993, nearly 5 million walkers across the country have raised more than $340 million through Making Strides events to help fight breast cancer. Last year alone, dedicated supporters like you raised more than $60 million nationwide to help the American Cancer Society continue fighting breast cancer and offer hope to people facing the disease.

So, how does the money you raise help fight breast cancer? Funds you raise through Making Strides help the American Cancer Society save lives in many ways.

With your support, we can end breast cancer once and for all.

Funding Groundbreaking Discoveries into Cancer’s Causes and Cures
Thanks to people like you, we’ve invested more in cancer research over time than any other voluntary public health organization. As the nation’s largest source of private, nonprofit cancer research funds, the American Cancer Society has distributed more than $3.3 billion to researchers since 1946. We take pride in funding promising researchers early in their careers, and our track record is something we share with pride. Of the researchers chosen for Society funding throughout the years, 42 have gone on to win the Nobel Prize. In fact, the Society invests more in breast cancer research than any other tumor site. Your support has allowed the American Cancer Society to be involved in nearly every major breast cancer research breakthrough of the last century, including:

• Funding research into breast-conserving surgery, using lumpectomy plus radiation for treatment
• Establishing mammography as the gold standard to find breast cancer early
• Discovering lifesaving treatments (such as Herceptin) to improve breast cancer survival and drugs (such as Tamoxifen) to reduce the risk of second or first breast cancer
• Discovering genes for inherited breast and colon cancer
• Knowledge that genetics, diet, lack of exercise, and alcohol abuse can increase a person's cancer risk
• Discovering cancer-causing oncogenes and tumor-suppressor genes

While the Society spends more on breast cancer than on any other solid tumor site, many of the research grants we support may have relevance to many kinds of cancers. Currently, breast cancer research projects are underway at institutions across the country, thanks in large part to the funds raised by Making Strides Against Breast Cancer participants. With your continued help, we can fund more critical research projects one of which could result in a breakthrough that would lead to fewer diagnoses and lower the number of deaths from breast cancer each year.