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Copyright (c) 2000 The American Cancer Society, Inc.

The text of "Use Of Animals In Cancer Research" without the pictures and formatting follows:

 USE OF ANIMALS IN CANCER RESEARCH


The American Cancer Society awards grants to qualified researchers in medical
and scientific institutions across the country so that they may pursue promising
and innovative ideas. The American Cancer Society does not conduct laboratory
research. This approach to funding means that the American Cancer Society does
not direct the research or specify how it should be conducted, but rather
mandates that grantees comply with institutional and federal regulations
regarding the humane use of animals.

The mission of the American Cancer Society research program is to explore every
means available to control and cure cancer. The many individuals working
directly for the Society or receiving funds for research differ in many ways.
However, all share a commitment to eliminating cancer.

Applications for American Cancer Society research grants are put through a
rigorous process of peer review and must also receive final approval from the
National Board of Directors. Decisions are based on the scientific merit of the
research and its applicability to the overall goals of the Society. Funds are
not allocated on the basis of whether the research would or would not include
animal experimentation.

The American Cancer Society has long advocated the use of non-animal systems in
research whenever possible. Test tube experiments, for example, are often
effective in early phases of research. Several new and promising techniques such
as the use of cell and tissue cultures and computer models of organ systems
offers hope for non-animal systems.

Despite these developments, drugs must be tested at some point on living systems
in order to identify and evaluate proper doses and possible side effects in
human bodies.  The American Cancer Society supports the careful, responsible use
of animals in medical research, particularly cancer research. Further, the
Society expects its research grantees to observe the traditional, compassionate
ethics of animal experimentation.

The American Cancer Society requires our research grantees, both individuals and
institutions, to comply with the Federal Animal Welfare Act. Among other
stipulations, this act provides that a licensed veterinarian supervise research
procedures involving animals. In addition to these safeguards on animal
research, most institutions also have their own review boards, which monitor all
experiments using animals.

The importance of using animals in research cannot be overstated. Research with
animals has led to significant advances in medicine, including organ
transplantation and vaccines for smallpox, polio, and hepatitis. The field of
cancer research with animal models has produced successful cancer treatments for
childhood leukemia. Further animal research is crucial for understanding the
causes of cancer, developing and testing new drugs, studying new forms of
treatment, and identifying ways to prevent cancer.

While the American Cancer Society believes that animal research is essential to
progress in the treatment of diseases in humans such as cancer, such research
also benefits animals. For example, many animal tumors can now be treated
because of improved diagnostic and surgical techniques and chemotherapy
treatments. A vaccine for feline leukemia also was derived from human cancer
research.

It is not easy to sacrifice living things for the benefit of man or of their
fellow creatures. However, the American Cancer Society believes it is possible
to strike a balance between the needs of humans to make progress in treatment of
human and animal diseases and the need to protect the sanctity of living things.
Perhaps soon the breakthroughs will be achieved that will render the need for
animal testing obsolete. Until that day, the American Cancer Society will do
everything in our power to help to ensure that American Cancer Society grantee
scientists and researchers make difficult decisions with the utmost care.



 Revised:   04/23/99