Image courtesy of Wikipedia
In 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden announced a Cancer Moonshot initiative to speed the development of new therapies to treat cancer.
Biden is now launching a new initiative committed to improving the cancer survival rate by at least 50% by 2047. The plan also aims to improve the quality of life for patients with cancer.
“We can end cancer as we know it,” Biden said in an announcement introducing the initiative.
Biden named Dr. Danielle Carnival as the White House Cancer Moonshot coordinator. Carnival is currently the senior advisor to the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.
One of the short-term goals of the initiative will be to bolster cancer screening rates, which have plummeted during the pandemic.
Biden seeks to form a Cancer Cabinet with officials from a range of government offices.
Biden also wants to help support research involving mRNA technology for cancer therapies and vaccines.
The initiative also seeks to reduce inequalities related to cancer in diverse populations.
Biden also wants to leverage recent progress in streamlining clinical trials during the pandemic to accelerate the rate of oncology drug development.
Also included in the initiative is a partnership with UK oncology researchers.
Drug companies have made considerable progress in improving cancer survival in recent decades. Also contributing to that trend is progress in radiological imaging and reductions in tobacco use.