The Neuroendocrine Tumor (NET) Research Foundation has announced a three-year, $15 million gift from the Margie and Robert E. Petersen Foundation in support of research on a cure for neuroendocrine cancers.

Announced Thursday, World Cancer Day, the endowment gift will provide support for research on the control of and a cure for the rare form of cancer — one that claimed the lives of Robert E. Petersen, the automotive publishing giant who founded the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles, as well as Apple founder Steve Jobs. An estimated hundred thousand Americans are living with neuroendocrine cancers, which can occur anywhere in the body, and the number of people diagnosed — some twelve thousand annually — has been increasing by more than 5 percent a year. Moreover, because symptoms often mimic those of other conditions, the majority of NET patients are initially misdiagnosed, with the time from onset of symptoms to an accurate diagnosis often exceeding five years.

"A gift of this magnitude will greatly intensify the research that can be conducted in this rare disease space," said NET Research Foundation executive director Ron Hollander. "With very little public funding for this type of research, a private gift of this magnitude is nothing short of transformational....This is an exciting time for cancer research, as new treatments like Immunotherapy are having breakthrough results for many forms of cancer. We will be reaching out to researchers throughout the U.S. and beyond to bring the best ideas and investigators to the cause of curing neuroendocrine cancers."