John and Joyce Allen and the J. F. Allen Company of Buckhannon, have made a $400,000 contribution to fund lung cancer research at the Mary Babb Randolph Cancer Center.
The donation is in addition to a $1.5 million gift the Allens presented previously to support the Sara Crile Allen and James Frederick Allen Comprehensive Lung Cancer Program. The gift was given in memory of John Allen’s parents, James and Sara Allen, who died of lung cancer in 1991 and 1999, respectively.
“This generous gift will be used to recruit lab scientists who will join clinical scientists in lung cancer research,”said John Rogers II, MD, co-chair of the Comprehensive Lung Cancer Program.”They will strengthen our overall lung cancer program by studying new ways to evaluate and treat lung cancer patients and to improve their chances of survival.”
The gift was made to the WVU Foundation in conjunction with Building Greatness, Campaign: West Virginia University. The campaign is a $250 million fundraising effort of the Foundation on behalf of the University, which concludes December 31, 2003. So far the Foundation has received more than $130 million.
Each year, more than 160,000 U.S. citizens are diagnosed with lung cancer; more people die of lung cancer than of breast, prostate and colon cancer combined. West Virginia’s lung cancer mortality rate is among the highest in the countryfourth highest for women and sixth highest for men. West Virginia ranks third in the incidence of cigarette smoking, which causes more than 80 percent of lung cancer cases.
The lung cancer program at Mary Babb Randolph features a multidisciplinary approach to caring for patients. Specialists from cardiothoracic surgery, medical oncology, pulmonary medicine, radiation oncology, diagnostic radiology, and pathology provide comprehensive consultative services and expedited invasive and non-invasive procedures for the diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer.
The lung cancer program also conducts clinical trials in a continuous effort to find the best possible treatments for the disease. For more information about the clinical trials currently underway at the CancerCenter, visit the lung cancer program’s web site athttp://hsc.wvu.edu/mbrcc/lungcancer.