Charity Review: Stand Up To Cancer

Last Updated: July 3, 2025

One of the ways all of us can help in the fight against cancer is by making a donation to a worthy charity that conducts or supports cancer research.

There are many nonprofit organizations that fund cancer research as a part of their mission, along with other goals. But there are actually relatively few that focus mostly or entirely on research.

Stand Up To Cancer is one of a small number of highly-rated charities that focus solely on cancer research. This is our latest, updated review of SU2C, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation.

The Organization’s History

SU2C was founded in 2008 by members of the media and entertainment industry who had been personally affected by cancer. They wanted to see more rapid progress made in translating knowledge about the biology of cancer into new treatments. They sought to leverage the resources of the entertainment industry to raise funds in support of that goal.

The SU2C initiative is under the umbrella of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, which has been around since the 1940s and raises awareness and funds to address leading health and social issues.

In 2012, Stand Up To Cancer UK was launched in the United Kingdom as a fundraising partnership between Cancer Research UK and the UK broadcaster Channel 4.

The Organization’s Approach

Stand Up To Cancer’s approach is to foster collaboration among top scientists across fields both to encourage innovation and to speed up the translation of research findings into new therapies for patients.

SU2C creates “dream teams” of scientists, clinicians and other experts as well as patient advocates to work on finding solutions to critical problems in cancer diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Each dream team has a specific goal it’s trying to achieve. Most of the research funded by SU2C is conducted through this collaborative model.

The American Association for Cancer Research partners with SU2C and is responsible for managing all phases of the grant cycle including the competitive review process and providing scientific oversight in conjunction with a Scientific Advisory Council. The Council is comprised of scientists, clinicians and patient advocates and is charged with identifying the most promising projects for funding.

Major Program Areas, Expenses and Funding

(Source for financial data: Entertainment Industry Foundation’s IRS Form 990)

The Entertainment Industry Foundation reported $89 million in program service expenses for fiscal year 2023. SU2C is a prominent initiative of EIF with program expenses of about $32 million.

Of EIF’s total expenses, 85% were spent on its programs and services (8% were spent on administrative expenses and 7% on fundraising).

SU2C raises funds for collaborative cancer research from individuals, corporations and organizations. A large part of its donations are raised through a biennial televised fundraising event.

Ratings from the Charity Watchdogs

These are the most recent ratings Entertainment Industry Foundation has received from charity rating agencies:

Charity Navigator: 4 stars (highest rating)
Charity Watch: A-
BBB Wise Giving Alliance: Accredited Charity – Meets Standards (highest rating)
GuideStar: Platinum Seal of Transparency

Results: What Does the Organization Report?

SU2C says that it has raised nearly $800 million in funds for research since it began operations in 2008.

Since 2008, SU2C researchers have been involved in over 270 planned, started or completed clinical trials. Research the organization has supported has led to nine new FDA-approved cancer treatments, examples of which include:

approval of palbociclib in combination with letrozole for hormone receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer, which was a first-in-class approval for a CDK 4/6 inhibitor and improved treatment options for women with metastatic breast cancer (2015).
approval of CAR T-cell therapy, a type of immunotherapy that uses a person’s own genetically modified T-cells to fight cancer, for pediatric leukemias (2017).
approval of pembrolizumab, a type of immunotherapy, as a first-line treatment for advanced colorectal cancer (2020).

Moving forward, some of the broad scientific initiatives that SU2C is currently focusing on include:

using computational and AI techniques to understand and overcome treatment resistance.
exploring how cancer cells and the immune system interact, opening new avenues for immunotherapy.
testing combinations of existing drugs to identify new treatment protocols more quickly, reducing the time and costs associated with developing entirely new drugs.

Program guides on the website for SU2C’s scientific summits in 2024 and 2025 include background and key progress for active research teams as well as key accomplishments for closed teams.

For More Information

If you’re interested in reading more about SU2C, here are some articles to check out:

A Cancer Research UK article that includes several examples of the impact that SU2C research has had through the introduction of innovative new and experimental treatments.
An article in the ASCO Post on SU2C’s initiative to increase diversity in clinical trials, announced in January 2020.

Image Credit: Kathy Hutchins/Shutterstock.com