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Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center scientists are producing some of the most important breakthroughs in the prevention, early detection and treatment of cancer, HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Our scientists study the disease process from every angle – from the most basic, molecular and cellular level to a broad, population-based approach – to uncover the factors that influence a person’s likelihood of getting cancer, and using this knowledge to reduce risk and save lives. Our research covers a broad range of topics, including:

• Fundamental Science – The Center’s Basic Sciences Division answers fundamental biological questions and produces new insights on the basic biology of life processes and cancer development.
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• Prevention – Our researchers work to prevent cancer and other diseases before they develop, including HIV, in the quest to help people live healthier lives.
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• Early Detection – The earlier cancer and other diseases can be detected, the sooner and more successfully they can be addressed. Our investigators are identifying novel methods for more efficient, accurate and less invasive ways to find diseases as early as possible, when the potential to cure them is strongest.
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• Treatment & Cures – The Center pioneered bone marrow transplantation for the treatment of blood cancers, one of the greatest advancements in the history of medicine. Today our scientists are advancing transplantation and other therapies across a broad range of diseases.
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• Survivorship – The Center conducts research that addresses the long- and short-term physical, psychological, social and economic effects of cancer and its treatment. This ongoing expertise has helped establish us as a leader in the emerging field of survivorship care, education and research.
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The Center's world-renowned faculty seek answers to fundamental biological questions. Our investigators:

• Make landmark discoveries about key biological processes. For example, Dr. Linda Buck received a 2004 Nobel Prize for her work identifying the neurological mechanisms that govern the sense of smell.
• Study suspended animation, a technique that one day could help trauma patients survive and keep human organs viable for longer periods before they’re transplanted.
  
• Discovered the mechanisms responsible for making cells grow and divide -- a breakthrough that in 2001 earned former Center President and Director Emeritus Dr. Lee Hartwell a Nobel Prize.
  
• Win science's most prestigious awards. Our fundamental researchers include a Nobel laureate, a MacArthur Fellow and multiple fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Several faculty members have been elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
  

The Center is home to the nation’s first and largest cancer prevention program. Our prevention researchers identify ways to reduce an individual’s likelihood of developing cancer and pursue vaccines to prevent cancer, HIV and other major diseases. Our achievements include:

• Serving as the coordinating center for the Women's Health Initiative, a nationwide study designed to address the most frequent causes of death, disability and poor quality of life in older women.
• Key contributions to the development of the HPV vaccine, which helps prevent cervical cancer.
• Innovative research on how exercise reduces cancer risk, laying the groundwork for health strategies that could prevent the disease.
  
• The HIV Vaccine Trials Network, a global effort to develop an HIV vaccine.
• Some of the world's most comprehensive studies on how eating some foods may affect cancer risk.

Center researchers seek new ways to detect cancer at its earliest stages, when a patient's chances of survival are greatest. One of the keys to this effort is the discovery of biomarkers—proteins and other molecules that indicate the presence of disease. In addition to leading an international project to discover new cancer biomarkers, our investigators:

• Pursue breakthrough blood tests that could improve early detection of breast cancer.
• Discover new proteins that signal lung cancer's emergence and develop tests that can detect lung cancer long before symptoms appear.
• Reveal genetic mutations that illuminate why some prostate cancers are lethal and identify variants associated with drug-resistant prostate cancer. These discoveries could improve early detection and determine who needs aggressive treatment.
• Pursue breakthrough genetic tests for colon cancer, with hopes of identifying it at the earliest possible moment.

Our researchers pioneered bone marrow transplantation, a procedure that has saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of patients worldwide. This discovery set the stage for our pursuit of innovative treatments and cures for cancers, HIV and other diseases. Center investigators:

• Spearhead immunotherapies that use the immune system to boost the body's ability to fight off cancer. Our researchers were the first to use immunotherapy to put advanced melanoma into long-term remission.
  
• Investigate a pioneering treatment to determine whether a person’s stem cells can be engineered to eradicate HIV.
  
• Develop a lifesaving transplantation technique using cord blood that could make stem cell treatments available to thousands of patients who can’t find tissue-matched bone marrow donors.
• Expand the reach of bone marrow transplantation by using it to treat autoimmune disorders and other, non-cancerous diseases, and by developing “mini-transplants” that use minimal doses of radiation, reduce side effects and are safer for older patients who were not previously eligible for transplants.
• Uncover how and why pancreatic cancer is resistant to conventional treatment, allowing researchers to begin studying a new approach to therapy that could boost survival rates.
  

Our research examines the physical, psychological, social and economic effects of cancer and its treatment, and the Center is a world leader in the emerging field of survivor care. Our investigators:

• Lead one of the nation's first Survivorship Programs, where researchers learn more about cancer treatment's long-term effects.
  
• Provide critical data, through our renowned Long-Term Follow-Up Program, that help prevent and treat transplantation’s long-term effects.
  
• Learn why survivors suffer severe musculoskeletal pain and other ailments, with hopes of developing new treatments.
  
• Conduct advanced research on how to maximize childhood cancer survivors' quality of life.