SPRINGFIELD, IL – Illinois taxpayers have the opportunity for the third consecutive year to help with prostate cancer research by making a donation when filing their 2001 Illinois income tax returns.

Money contributed to the Prostate Cancer Research Fund is to be used for research into the cause, prevention and treatment of prostate cancer. More than $231,000 has been donated to the fund since it first appeared on the 1999 state tax forms.

Northwestern University Medical School has been awarded a $25,000 grant from the fund and, pending legislative approval, a second grant of $75,000 is slated to be awarded to Northwestern July 1.

The university's planned research involves a clinical trial strategy that relies on a pharmaceutical "cocktail," rather than chemotherapy, surgery or radiation, to treat patients with hormone-resistant, advanced prostate cancer.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer diagnosed in American men and claims the lives of an estimated 37,000 men each year – 1,800 in Illinois.

Taxpayers can donate $1 or more to the prostate cancer fund by filling in the amount of a contribution on line 28F of their 2001 IL-1040 state income tax return, or item 18 on the Telefile worksheet. The amount pledged will either decrease the amount of a refund or increase the amount due. All donations are tax deductible.

A direct contribution also may be made to the fund by sending a check, payable to the Illinois Department of Public Health, to P.O. Box 4263, Springfield, IL 62708. Clearly mark Prostate Cancer Research Fund on the check.