White House?s Moon Shot Seen as Tipping Point in Race to Cure Cancer

Posted by Radiation Clinic on August 16th, 2016

With an estimated 1.7 million Americans diagnosed with cancer each year, finding a cure is top priority in medical circles. It is also now a top priority of the Obama Administration. In his final State of the Union Address, President Barack Obama announced the tasking of Vice President Joe Biden to oversee a concerted effort hoped to produce real milestones on the road to a cure. The “Cancer Moonshot” is meant to coordinate and speed up efforts toward finding a cure. The ultimate goal of the initiative, as stated by the White House, is to double the rate of process toward a cure; “to make a decade worth of advances in five years.”

The White House’s stated commitment to help find a cure has received tremendous support from the medical community. After all, it is estimated than nearly 600,000 Americans die from cancer annually. The government’s commitment to help find a cure is backed up by a multipronged plans designed to facilitate more rapid advancements in research. The initiative includes federal backing in the following ways:

• Funding – The Obama Administration has pledged billion toward funding research to accelerate the development of cancer detection tools and treatments. Research will also be supported to assist with developing new immunizations, such as the one used to prevent human papilloma virus (HPV), which is associated with mouth, throat and cervical cancers.

• Enhanced data sharing – The moonshot involves a collaboration among 26 of the country’s top cancer centers. The hope is to improve the amount of communication between these organizations as their researchers work to find better preventative measures, screening tools and treatments.

• Focus on pediatric cancer – While the Moonshot is meant to address all forms of cancer, a particular emphasis is being placed on making breakthroughs in the rarest forms of pediatric cancer. Treatments available for many pediatric cancers today are often modifications of those used for adults. By honing in on pediatric cancers, the hope is to be able to better prevent, detect and treat children as children with improved outcomes in the process.

Cancer is a disease that affects almost every American at some point in their lives. While a cure has been elusive to date, the White House’s Moonshot is meant to enable researchers to make major steps forward in a relatively short amount of time. Whether the results will pay off with a cure remains to be seen, but researchers are hopeful major breakthroughs will come from the initiative.

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At Las Colinas Cancer Center, a Choice Cancer Care Treatment Center, our team is committed to providing the personalized, compassionate treatment that can make all the difference in cancer care.