The University of California-San Francisco has received a $150 million pledge, the school's largest philanthropic donation from an individual.

University officials said the anonymous pledge to support clinical and research programs at the University of California-San Francisco Comprehensive Cancer Center will be used to strengthen five major components of its programs: advancing experimental therapies, creating a world-class database to support future individualized therapies, enhancing the facility's ability to recruit scientific leaders, improving patient care and support services and strengthening the center's translation of basic research into clinical care.

"The donor's immense generosity will serve as a potent catalyst for programs and research that will benefit cancer patients throughout the world," said University of California-San Francisco Chancellor J. Michael Bishop.

Copyright 2007 by United Press International