CANCER SOCIETY GIFT: BUSINESS MAN GIVES $748,600 TO LOCAL UNIT

The American Cancer Society has received a gift of nearly three-quarters of a million dollars from the estate of a former Jackson businessman.

In his will, John R. Cox of Jackson left $748,600 to the cancer society. Cancer society officials announced the gift Monday afternoon.

The gift is one of the largest donations ever received by the cancer society locally, said Jeff Bierman, public information chairman of the cancer society's Cape Girardeau unit.

"It is through the generosity of people like Mr. Cox that the American Cancer Society is able to exist," said Bierman.

"The financial gift of $748,600 by Mr. Cox will have a significant impact on the society's cancer research program."

Cox died Dec. 12, 1990, at the age of 86.

He was born in St. Louis and moved to Jackson in 1938. He operated variety stores at Jackson, Chaffee and Dexter.

A spokesman for the Missouri Division of the American Cancer Society in Jefferson City said 40 percent of the gift will go to the national office of the cancer society for cancer research.

The remaining 60 percent will be used by the society's Missouri division.

Bierman emphasized the importance of funding research to fight cancer.

"A disease, which was once a death sentence, now can be cured in 50 percent of all cases," said Bierman.

Part of the over $83 million the society spends on research each year is being used on the synthesis of taxol, a compound isolated from the bark of a rare tree and one that is among the most promising anti-cancer agents discovered in recent years, cancer society officials said.

Another project involves studying ways to boost the effectiveness of a vaccine for colon cancer, which will help protect patients from a reoccurrence of the disease.

Over $1.2 million is spent on research conducted at Missouri institutions, cancer society officials said.

New grant applications submitted to the society have risen 22 percent nationwide in the past year, which reflects the trend toward shrinking research budgets of other organizations, officials said.

Of the 2,099 new grant applications that passed through the society's stringent peer review process in the past year 251 were funded.

That situation, said Bierman, clearly points out the need for financial donations.

The American Cancer Society is a nationwide, voluntary organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem through research, education and service.