Your tax return can help fund UC-administered cancer research programs

Dear Colleagues:

As you prepare to file your state taxes this year, I would like to let you know about an important opportunity to help UC researchers and others around 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 support community-based health education and research to advance the fight against deadly cancers. These programs have a real impact on a disease that touches far too many of us. While you prepare your state taxes this year, consider making a donation to California-based cancer research. A full 95 percent of contributions goes directly to research and education.

The California Breast Cancer Research Program, for example, funds ongoing work throughout the state, attacking cancer from a number of angles. One project at UC San Diego is developing tailored care plans for young breast cancer survivors. As cancer therapies improve, the number of survivors under 45 grows. Researchers at UCSD are building a new resource for these women and their care providers, making up-to-date information about cancer therapies, fertility, and sexual health available online. You can read more about the California Breast Cancer Research Program at http://www.cabreastcancer.org/taxcheckoff/.

The California Cancer Research Fund, administered by UC’s Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, supports outreach efforts across California’s many cultures and communities. With funds from the TRDRP, a team at UCLA is working to bring the radiation dose for a lung cancer CT screening down to the level of an ordinary chest x-ray, making the only available tool to detect the most deadly of cancers far safer and more accurate. To learn more about the TRDRP, visit http://www.trdrp.org/.

A donation of any size makes a difference. Together we can decrease cancer rates, improve the quality of life for survivors, and help UC researchers discover the next breakthrough.

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours very truly,

Janet Napolitano

President