Fall 2025
By Casey Repasy
For decades, Larry and Susan Marx have been steadfast supporters of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Larry served as a Trustee from 1994 to 2005, and both he and Susan, members of the Dana-Farber Society, have contributed more than $5 million providing transformational support to population sciences research—a field that explores how social, environmental, behavioral, and genetic factors influence cancer risk and outcomes. Most recently, they established the Larry and Susan Marx Fund for Early Detection with a $2.6 million gift, supporting efforts to detect and screen cancers earlier and improve treatment outcomes.
According to the World Health Organization, about 20 million new cancer cases are diagnosed worldwide each year. Nearly half go undetected until the disease has progressed and spread, making treatment more difficult. Impactful gifts like the Marxs’ are critical to changing this reality.
Their funding supports the work of Catherine Marinac, PhD, and her team. That team is developing cutting-edge early detection methods to identify cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages. One such method is the GRAIL Galleri multicancer early detection (MCED) blood test, which can detect 50 different types of cancer with a simple blood draw—many of which have no effective screening options.
“We believe MCED tests hold immense promise as a minimally invasive, convenient way to detect cancer signals before symptoms appear and increase the number of cancers that can be detected through screening,” Marinac said. “With support from Larry and Susan, we are able to pursue new cancer screening trials that could fundamentally change how we screen.”
“Susan and I remain deeply impressed by the dedication of the outstanding researchers at Dana-Farber, and we are honored to support this important work.”
Larry Marx
While the MCED test shows promise, more work remains. A patient with a positive GRAIL test currently has about a 55% chance of a false positive and a 45% chance of having cancer. Further research is needed to determine how to use these tests in clinical settings.
Both Marinac and Elizabeth O’Donnell, MD, director of Early Detection and Prevention of Malignant Conditions within Dana-Farber’s Centers for Early Detection and Interception, believes patients with elevated cancer risk—due to inherited genetic mutations or family history—may be optimal candidates for the MCED test. The INFORM study is also establishing a gold standard for implementing an MCED test with rapid, coordinated follow-up to improve care delivery. The study also evaluates strategies to minimize the anxiety that patients face when undergoing cancer screening.
Thanks to the Larry and Susan Marx Fund for Early Detection, the research team will screen 1,000 new individuals with elevated cancer risk to answer these critical questions.
“Susan and I remain deeply impressed by the dedication of the outstanding researchers at Dana-Farber, and we are honored to support this important work,” Larry said.