At City of Hope, there are many compassionate professionals who strive every day to cure and comfort cancer patients. But there is another critically important aspect of City of Hope’s work that takes place behind the scenes.

In laboratories and offices, hundreds of people work for the benefit of patients without meeting them face to face. These are geneticists and molecular biologists, physicists and pathologists. While they operate outside of the knowledge of the general public, their work has a significant impact on treatment.

I recently had the chance to meet a relative newcomer to City of Hope, Professor Linda Malkas. Although she does not directly participate in delivering therapies, her investigations already have unlocked some mysteries of how cancer works.

She told me something surprising: On average, our bodies make eight cancer cells each day. Our immune system normally recognizes these cells and destroys them. Professor Malkas focuses her work on understanding what goes wrong when cancer thrives. She has identified a unique change that happens when cells make faulty, cancerous copies of themselves, and a potential way to use this knowledge to battle breast cancer.

She is immensely excited to be at City of Hope and believes that the resources and research partners at City of Hope will help to quickly translate her scientific insights into future treatments that will benefit patients in our clinics and beyond.

Even though our research scientists like Professor Malkas may work out of the spotlight, their efforts have an outsized effect on advancing patient care. And when you support City of Hope, you make their work possible. You have my deepest gratitude for your contribution.


Sheri Biller
Chair, Board of Directors
City of Hope

At City of Hope, we enjoy the chance to reflect on and celebrate the milestones of our progress against disease. Recently, we noted our role in the tremendous gains made in the 40 years since the passage of the National Cancer Act; in the last two decades, U.S. cancer deaths dropped 22 percent among men and 14 percent among women.

We marked another highly visible achievement: City of Hope reached its highest-ever ranking in U.S.News & World Report’s list of top cancer hospitals — recognition of our excellent care.

The year yielded other high points. One was our 10,000th bone marrow transplant. Over the past 35 years, City of Hope hematologists have advanced this treatment for cancers and other serious diseases of the blood and lymphatic system. Our urologic surgeons also have performed our 5,000th robotic prostatectomy, a strategy for fighting prostate cancer that allows for shorter hospital stays and faster healing.

Our excellence in patient care is matched by the impact of our research. In 2011, our scientists continued to garner key grants from major funding agencies despite difficult financial times. This testifies to the caliber of science under way in our labs and clinics.

We continue to see our researchers touch patients’ lives. One of our physicians, for example, was instrumental to the accelerated approval of a new drug for relapsed Hodgkin lymphoma — bringing new hope to patients with few options. And our prevention researchers have made important advances in knowledge about cancer risk and how to lower it.

City of Hope’s efforts depend on our entire community, so our milestones belong to all of us. Your support makes a difference in our mission to save lives around the world.


Michael A. Friedman, M.D.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Director, Comprehensive Cancer Center
Irell & Manella Cancer Center Director’s Distinguished Chair