Stand Up To Cancer: Will you be watching?

The second "Stand Up To Cancer" fundraiser will air tonight. The event is a follow-up to the 2008 event that raised more than $100 million for cancer research. Many are asking where that $100 million went. Why haven't we seen results? Where is the research? Where is the cure?The truth is research takes time. Scientists spend more time disproving theories than proving them. We've found millions of compounds that don't work, and a few that have. And the SU2C grants are funding "high-risk yet potentially high-reward projects," which means nothing may come out of the research.But that's science. I recall the story about Dr. Dennis Slamon's research in the groundbreaking treatment for HER2-positive breast cancer. Much of his funding came from a donation from business man Ron Perelman. He made it clear to Perelman that the millions he was providing for research may come to nothing. It's not a name on a hospital wing, it's not an endowment -- it's research. It's like playing the lottery. Slamon won because his research later cleared the way for a viable treatment option for certain breast cancer patients. Let's hope that SU2C hits the jackpot on at least one of these projects.One of the goals of the SU2C grants was to promote cutting-edge research that moves from the lab to the clinic at a record pace. If you tune in tonight, you'll hear updates on the work of the five "dream teams." You can read more about the teams and their research at "Dream Team Leadership Biographies" on the website to the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), a scientific partner to SU2C.At 8 p.m. EST tonight, the one-hour fundraising event will be simulcast live on several television stations including ABC, CBS, FOX, and NBC. Will you be watching?