Jennifer Matthews: Today, Stewart Campbell knows something big is about to happen. As he watches the nation's largest fountain explode, he knows doctors are working on an even bigger project, one that could find a cure for his cancer.

Stewart Campbell: It's a malignant, stage four, melanoma, and it started from a spot on my left temple.

Jennifer Matthews: A cancer treatment that helps one patient may not work for the next. But, Doctor Robert Penny hopes the EXPO project will offer some answers.

Dr. Robert Penny: Each one of these blue dots is a cancer cell.

Jennifer Matthews: Each of those dots tells a story about a patient, like how aggressive their cancer is and what treatments are working.

Dr. Robert Penny: That level of magnitude of information is powerful.

Jennifer Matthews: EXPO stands for the Expression Project for Oncology. Researchers gather hundreds of tissue samples from cancer patients and break down genes to find out which ones are causing problems.

Dr. Robert Penny: They will make discoveries as to better test to predict how the cancers will behave. They will be able to make discoveries for better drugs to be able to go in and target specific cancers.

Jennifer Matthews: Researchers put that information online in a free database detailing the gene expression profiles of major cancers. The hope is to bring new cancer drugs to patients.

Dr. Robert Penny: We are going to get some cures under our belt, and we are going to be able to extend out survival.

Stewart Campbell: The big thing is right up here; that you've got to have the mindset.

Jennifer Matthews: With great minds around the world working to uncover cancer's clues, Stewart says he'll stick around for the answers. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.