Research Programs

Although scientists at the University of Nebraska Medical Center have been researching cancer since the early 1960s, the national crusade against cancer was mobilized in 1971 when President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act. Over the past quarter century, remarkable advances in cancer research have been attained.

In the past 25 years, remarkable advances in cancer research leading to earlier diagnosis and more effective therapies have contributed to 15 million cancer survivors living in the U.S., three times the number alive in 1971 when Nixon took aim at cancer. In 1996, the National Cancer Institute reported the cancer death rate in the United States had peaked and, for the first time, begun to fall. This accomplishment comes as a result of the knowledge gained in laboratories such as those in the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, where scientists are diligently working to bring results from the laboratory to the patients in the treatment center.

To advance the comprehensive clinical and epidemiological studies and to aid in the acceleration of secondary use of cancer and health related data for translational research, the Cancer Center maintains the integrated Cancer Repository for Cancer Research (iCaRe2), an IRB approved repository (IRB: 253-13) that collects comprehensive data and Human Biological Material on cancer patients and high-risk population. The repository integrates multi-center cancer registries that are created and maintained at the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center.  Institutions with expertise in cancer epidemiology, genetics, biology, early detection, and patient care can collaborate by using the iCaRe2 as a platform for cohort and population studies.