Daniel Schuder is familiar with risk-taking: he's a skydiver and a smoker. Thanks to Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), he also avoided a bout with America’s number-one cancer killer.

Based on his pack-a-day habit, Dan's physician recommended he enroll in a study at Roswell Park designed to detect lung cancer early. His Roswell Park doctors, including Todd Demmy, MD, found and removed a precancerous lesion on his lung using a minimally-invasive procedure called Video Assisted Thoracic Surgery (VATS).

In order to create more success stories like Dan's, Roswell Park donations were recently awarded to The Stacey Scott Lung Cancer Registry at RPCI.

The Registry is screening high-risk individuals with precancerous lesions to help others avoid lung cancer. It is combining patient data from 11 medical centers (located in three countries) into one master research database housed at RPCI. The data is being analyzed through additional studies to find out exactly why precancerous lung lesions progress to the deadly form of the disease, and how that progression can be stopped.

This donor funding has been added to thousands of dollars in additional gifts made by generous Registry supporters to help ensure the project's success.