Center for Cancer Prevention Research

What We Do

Stopping cancer before it starts: Ours is one of the few research centers dedicated to preventing cancer, the second-leading cause of death in the United States. The center’s scientists conduct basic research into the causes of cancer and identify novel strategies to prevent, delay, and treat cancer. Our most-promising discoveries move quickly into cancer-prevention trials, where the potential to save human lives is real.

Because we are located within a leading pharmacy school, our center brings unique insights to cancer-prevention research. Our scientists understand how specific chemical compounds act in the human body and how they interfere with cancer’s genesis. Among the discoveries emerging from our labs:

• Caffeine and exercise inhibits  ultraviolet light induced skin cancer.
• Specific forms of vitamin E inhibits the formation of several types of cancer.
• Two common drugs—a pain reliever and a cholesterol fighter—delay tumor progression when used in combination.
• A gene responsible for melanoma, and a potential drug that may inhibit the expression of that gene.
• Green tea contains compounds that protect against colon and oral cancers.

Since its founding in 2003, the center has recruited an outstanding faculty of researchers in the pharmaceutical sciences and nurtured a network of multiinstitutional, interdisciplinary research collaborators.

Who We Are

More than two dozen Rutgers researchers are affiliated with the center. The core of our work draws on the pharmaceutical and biological sciences, but we reach across Rutgers to collect the university’s broad expertise and focus it on the problem of cancer. Collaboration among experts in pharmaceutical sciences, genetics, chemistry, molecular biology, food science, psychology, and more—energizes our research.

We also collaborate with many respected institutions representing health care, industry, and academia. With our partners, the center conducts basic research and helps to implement, monitor, and analyze clinical trials of potential cancer-prevention strategies. Such investigations are currently under way at the National Cancer Institute and several other laboratories and medical centers.

For more information, download our Center for Cancer Prevention Research brochure