OVERALL DESCRIPTION (Applicant's Description) This is the Competing Continuation of Cancer Center Support funding awarded to the Burnham Institute (then the La Jolla Cancer Research Foundation)in 1981. The Burnham is an independent, non-profit organized dedicated basic biomedical research with a focus on cancer. The Burnham Institute Cancer Center research effort is an interdisciplinary approach headed by thirty-four faculty members organized into six independent, but interactive programs, each focused on a particular aspect of cancer. Faculty and staff (400 total) are supported with an annual operating budget of about $25 M and conduct their research at the Institute's nine-acre campus located in La Jolla, California. The Cancer Center is particularly well known for its research on the extracellular matrix biology, apoptosis and cell death, and has recently developed an additional research focus in genomic instability of cancer. In the coming grant period the Institute will further strengthen its apoptosis and cell death research, broaden the scope of one of its existing programs with a new focus on cell structure and recruit additional interactive members to other programs. The plans also include further development of shared resources. The Center has targeted facilitating animal research-mouse genetics, in particular-and research in proteomics and functional genomics for further development. The Institute will provide additional research laboratories and instrumentation to accomplish these goals.