INITIATIVES IN THE US
Cancer Moonshot: can revived US programme cut cancer deaths?
Earlier this year, US president Joe Biden announced a “reignited” Cancer Moonshot programme to improve cancer prevention, detection and treatment. looks at how the initiative could benefit the oncology research space.
Biden also announced a call to action on
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cancer screening that will address the millions of appointments missed due to COVID-19 – screenings for some cancers fell by as much as 90% during the pandemic – and help provide equitable access to cancer prevention, detection and diagnosis for all Americans. Kelly McCain, head of healthcare initiatives at
the World Economic Forum, told Pharmaceutical Technology that COVID-19 had shown that “swift, safe breakthroughs” in disease care and treatment were possible. While the US saw 800,000 deaths from coronavirus by the end of 2021, 1.2 million Americans lost their lives to cancer in the same period, noted Biden. The American Cancer Society forecasts more than 600,000 cancer deaths in the US in 2022. “Building on the progress made during
the previous Moonshot initiative, the new programme’s focus on increasing equitable access to screening, driving innovation in cancer prevention, diagnostics and treatment, and working together with patients and caregivers to inform progress will aid efforts to reduce mortality and improve patient outcomes,” said McCain.
Early diagnosis, vaccine research and tackling environmental factors The Moonshot relaunch was not Biden’s first impassioned call for improved cancer care and treatment. Just last year, he proposed a new government agency, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), that would use federal funding to accelerate the development of treatments for cancer and other serious diseases. In a statement, the president outlined key steps that must be taken to achieve Moonshot’s new national goals, which include earlier diagnosis, cancer prevention by pursuing vaccine research and tackling environmental factors such as pollution, addressing health inequity, and advancing personalised cancer therapies. Emerging research is definitively mapping
the ways in which economic and racial inequity influences cancer care. This extends throughout diagnosis and treatment, with Hispanic individuals more likely to be diagnosed with advanced stages of cancer, leading to worse outcomes, and Black women being 40% more likely than white women to die of breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. The Cancer Moonshot programme’s focus on equity, diversity and inclusion, and the subsequent “heightened attention can propel us to invest even more of our time, energy and resources in closing the remaining gaps,” said Dr Julie Gralow, chief medical officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
‘Cancer cabinet’ and White House summit President Biden also proposed specific actions that will be taken by his administration as part of Cancer Moonshot’s revival and the mission to eradicate cancer. He plans to appoint a White House Cancer Moonshot co-ordinator, form a cancer cabinet comprised of several government agencies and departments, and improve access to cancer screening and early detection. The White House will also host a summit to bring stakeholders together and build on round-table discussions that have been held by the government. There are also plans to introduce a website inviting Americans to “share perspectives and ideas” and organisations, companies and institutions to share the steps they will take to achieve Cancer Moonshot’s new goals.
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