Irwin and Joan Jacobs

Irwin Jacobs, the founder, retired CEO, and current board member of the telecommunications giant Qualcomm, and his wife, Joan, recently gave $6.5 million to UCSF for head and neck cancer research. It is believed to be the largest private gift ever for research of this disease.

One morning while he was showering at his home in San Diego, Jacobs noticed a bump at the back of his jaw, next to his left ear. Thinking it was a dental problem, he consulted a dentist. But it wasn't. It was adenoid cystic carcinoma (ACC), a cancer that typically originates in the salivary glands. In Jacobs, it occurred in the parotid gland.

Unlike breast cancer and prostate cancer, each with 180,000 new cases per year, ACC is a rare cancer with just 600 new cases per year. And unlike the massive research dollars that are poured into cancers of the breast and prostate, funding for ACC research is scarce. The National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society do not fund ACC research at all.

Within weeks of his diagnosis Jacobs was under the care of David Eisele, MD, chair of the Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery at UCSF. Eisele removed the tumor in Jacobs' parotid gland, preserving his facial nerve, which was at risk of being damaged. Jacobs points to the spot and says, "I had surgery right here and you can't even see it. Dr. Eisele did a perfect job."

Jacobs also received radiation therapy at UCSF from Jeanne Quivey, MD. "She warned me I'd probably lose all my hearing in the left ear, which I haven't," he says. As positive as his experience was, he admits that it wasn't easy. "It did take away my sense of taste for a while. There was a time when the only thing that tasted good was vanilla ice cream."

The five-year survival rate for ACC is favorable. The 15-year survival rate, however, is below 40 percent. That's because it spreads to the lungs, through the blood stream and along nerves. The only known cause of salivary gland tumors is prior radiation exposure. There are no proven effective drug therapies.

"It's an unusual tumor," says Eisele. "We don't understand really well why they occur. We don't understand the variability from patient to patient. We're very interested in the molecular underpinnings and the behaviors of these tumors so we can come up with more effective therapeutic strategies. The Jacobs' generosity will help us hopefully make some creative discoveries."

The Jacobs' commitment creates two endowed positions at UCSF, one each in honor of Eisele and Quivey. The Irwin Mark Jacobs and Joan Klein Jacobs Distinguished Professorship in Head and Neck Cancer will reside in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery. The Irwin Mark Jacobs and Joan Klein Jacobs Distinguished Professorship in Head and Neck Cancer Radiation Oncology will reside in the Department of Radiation Oncology.

To learn more about head and neck cancer research at UCSF, contact Jeff Hauk at 415/502-6198 or JHauk@support.ucsf.edu.