Biden Makes Another Push for Cancer Moonshot Initiative

By Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, Sept. 13, 2022 (HealthDay News) — President Joe Biden made a renewed push for his most cancers moonshot initiative on Monday.

Speaking on the famed John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Biden likened JFK’s area race to his personal effort to slash most cancers charges by 50% within the subsequent 25 years.

“He established a national purpose that could rally the American people and a common cause,” Biden mentioned of Kennedy’s area effort.

“And I imagine we will usher in the identical unwillingness to postpone, the identical nationwide goal, that may serve to arrange and measure one of the best of our energies and expertise to finish most cancers as we all know it and even remedy cancers as soon as and for all,” he added.

In his speech, Biden mentioned the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NCI) has launched a examine that may have a look at utilizing blood exams to display screen in opposition to a number of cancers.

Danielle Carnival, the White House coordinator for the most cancers effort, instructed the Associated Press that the Biden administration sees enormous potential in such blood exams.

“One of the most promising technologies has been the development of blood tests that offer the promise of detecting multiple cancers in a single blood test and really imagining the impact that could have on our ability to detect cancer early and in a more equitable way,” Carnival mentioned.

Carnival mentioned the National Cancer Institute examine was designed in order that any promising findings may very well be shortly put into medical follow whereas the longer examine — anticipated to last as long as a decade — continues. She mentioned the purpose is to detect cancers by way of routine bloodwork as an alternative of invasive exams and biopsies.

The subject is private for Biden, who misplaced his son Beau in 2015 to mind most cancers. After Beau’s dying, Congress handed the twenty first Century Cures Act, which devoted $1.8 billion over seven years for most cancers analysis and was signed into legislation in 2016 by President Barack Obama.

Despite that, the most cancers initiative lacks the identical degree of funding that the area program had. More than $20 billion, equal to greater than $220 billion in 2022 {dollars}, was poured into the Apollo area program, the AP reported.

While touting the most cancers initiative on Monday, Biden introduced that Dr. Renee Wegrzyn would turn into the inaugural director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which has been tasked with finding out potential therapies and cures for cancers, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and different ailments. Biden additionally introduced a brand new NCI program that may fund younger scientists finding out therapies and cures for most cancers, with a deal with underrepresented teams.

Even with out new breakthroughs, progress will be made by making most cancers care extra equitable, Dr. Crystal Denlinger, chief scientific officer for the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, instructed the AP.

But any effort to chop the most cancers dying price might want to deal with the most important most cancers killer, which is lung most cancers, the AP reported. Mostly attributable to smoking, lung most cancers now causes extra most cancers deaths than every other most cancers.

Lung most cancers screening helps. The American Cancer Society says such screening helped drive down the most cancers dying price 32% from its peak between 1991 and 2019, the AP reported.

More info

Visit the U.S. National Cancer Institute for extra on the most cancers moonshot program.

SOURCE: White House, information launch, Sept. 12, 2022; Associated Press