Why Donate?
Your donation can help unearth cancer's past!
PRO was founded because we truly believe that digging for the origins of cancer can help researchers put an end to it. As bio-archaeologists, we get our hands dirty and literally dig for ancient evidence of cancer and other diseases throughout the world. We work tirelessly with other professionals in various fields to broaden our collective understanding of how cancer develops, how it is caused, how it spreads, how to treat it, and how it may be prevented.
There is much still to discover about the ancient history of cancer, and to do that, we need archaeologists to dig up evidence, and medical professionals to help interpret the evidence. Only through collaboration and cooperation will we make great strides in the fight against cancer.
We believe in funding archaeological and historical research, and encouraging further study of cancer’s past, so it doesn’t have a future.
Your donation will help us educate the public about cancer and carcinogens!
We believe that reliable and unbiased cancer research should be freely available to everyone. Cancer affects everyone, so shouldn’t everyone be able to learn more about cancer?
We are dedicated to public education and outreach, and we believe in open access to data for researchers and the public alike. We recognize that conflicting information on the internet, and elsewhere, can make it difficult to follow the true history, origins, and development of cancer. These misleading reports can contribute to misinformation about drugs, carcinogens, and/or feelings of guilt among cancer patients. While there are certainly some avoidable carcinogens that may contribute to the development of cancer, it is a complex disease influenced by both genetic and environmental factors that has been affecting humans throughout history.
We believe that everyone deserves to have access to reliable information about cancer and carcinogens and we aspire to provide this service to the public. But we can’t do this monumental task alone! Your donation allows us to educate the public about the history of cancer by supporting research and public outreach, providing reliable and accessible information to a wide range of audiences.
Our modern understanding of cancer is almost entirely based off of research done in the past two centuries. However, in the growing field of evolutionary medicine, scholars are constantly contributing to our understanding of how diseases work by looking into their history. Archaeologists have found evidence for tumors in skeletons from hundreds, and even thousands of years ago!
Imagine the potential for new information as we expand our current knowledge of cancer to include data from thousands of years, and a wide geographical range.
Some ancient medical texts recorded different types of tumors, giving us early descriptions of cancers. Some key drug-components used in chemotherapy today were originally used by ancient physicians and later modified and adapted by modern medicine! There are inumerable historical documents that remain to be studied, or even discovered. However, despite the great potential for learning about cancer from ancient writings, there are few specialists that are able to do this work, and even less funding available to these specialists.
By studying the bones and tissues of people in the past, as well as ancient medical texts, we can gain a better understanding of how cancer works, as well as how it can be prevented and treated. You can help us make cancer history!
Your donation could help contribute to modern medicine!