Cancer Moonshot, Redux
By Jonathan Springston, Editor, Relias Media
The White House announced this week the federal government is recommitting to the “Cancer Moonshot” that launched in 2016, with a goal of cutting the cancer death rate by 50% over the next 25 years.
Although the cancer death rate has declined over the last two decades, it remains the second leading cause of death in the United States. Additionally, because many people elected to postpone routine healthcare maintenance (e.g., regular doctor appointments, annual cancer screenings) during the COVID-19 pandemic, there could be an uptick in cancer-related deaths in the coming years.
“It’s bold. It’s ambitious. But it’s completely doable,” President Biden said of the plan on Wednesday. “Just as we harnessed the science to develop cutting-edge COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, we’ll bring a fierce sense of urgency to the fight against cancer. The goal is to … turn more cancers from death sentences into chronic diseases that people can live with; to create a more supportive experience for patients and their families; and, by doing these things and more, to end cancer as we know it.”
The foundation was laid in 2016, when Biden was vice president, after Congress enacted the 21st Century Cures Act, which included more than $1 billion for cancer research. This funding is set to expire after fiscal year 2023. Thus, as president, Biden has pushed for additional funding for the National Cancer Institute (NCI), full funding for the 21st Century Cures Act, and even proposed a new entity called the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), which, if brought into reality, could play a central role in the Cancer Moonshot project.
Beyond mobilizing federal resources, the Biden administration is asking for support from ordinary Americans, “to get back on track after more than 9.5 million missed cancer screenings” during the pandemic. Noting the essential nature of colon cancer and HPV screening, the administration pledged more resources to deploy mobile screening units and pop-up centers to help unclog this backlog of missed screenings.
“If you were supposed to get a cancer screening during the pandemic, call your primary care doctor today,” President Biden said. “I know cancer is scary. Going to the doctor’s [office] can be scary. But screening is how you catch it early, before it’s too late. The earlier you get it, the better shot you have.”
Generally, the administration is calling for an “all hands on deck” approach, with assistance from private businesses, foundations, academic institutions, and healthcare providers.
“My challenge to everyone involved in this fight against cancer: Take a hard look at your practice. Ask yourself, are you practicing perfectly, or am I practicing to make the old way permanent? Old practices created data silos, minimized the role of patients, fostered the wrong kind of competition instead of the right kind of collaboration,” the president said. “My plea to scientists is: Share data as best you can. My plea to my members in Congress is: Let’s fund this particular program and focus on it until we beat it.”
Soon, the White House plans to host a Cancer Moonshot Summit, a discussion among many stakeholders about how to proceed, and then a possible ongoing series of roundtable discussions on progress. The Biden administration’s fiscal year 2023 budget proposal is expected to be released in a few weeks. This could include a request for an increase in funding for the NIH.
After the Cancer Moonshot relaunch announcement, Reps. Diana DeGette, D-CO, and Fred Upton, R-MI, the primary authors of the 21st Century Cures Act, said they “are just as excited today as we were [in 2016] to continue working with the administration to not only reignite this important program, but to build upon the tremendous success that it’s had.”
In November, DeGette and Upton introduced “Cures Act 2.0,” which would create ARPA-H. A House committee is scheduled to host a hearing on this subject next week.