This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Moonshot report: Expedited delivery of therapies, improved patient access among keys to accelerating progress against cancer
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Vice President Joe Biden today released a report that outlines five strategic goals deemed crucial to the success of the national cancer moonshot initiative.
The goals — formulated by members of a task force President Barack Obama established earlier this year — include reducing the time it takes for new therapies to become available to patients, strengthening cancer prevention efforts, and ensuring all patients with cancer have access to appropriate resources and support.
“[President Richard] Nixon declared a war on cancer in 1971, but there’s a big difference,” Biden told representatives of the clinical, research, technology, advocacy and philanthropy communities who gathered this afternoon at the White House. “President Nixon’s interest and concern were real and genuine, but he had no army, he had no resources, and no clear strategy existed to win.
“Forty-five years later — after decades and decades of funding, new research, and the training of scientists and physicians who have treated millions of patients — we have powerful new technologies and tools,” Biden added. “We have an army, and with this moonshot, we have a clear strategy.”
Obama announced the launch of the national cancer moonshot initiative during his State of the Union address in January. He selected Biden — whose son, Beau, died of brain cancer last summer — to chair a task force charged with recommending strategies to coordinate efforts across disciplines and double the rate of progress in cancer detection, diagnosis and treatment.
Their recommendations were grounded in the “recognition that the cancer system of the 20th century must be reimagined for the 21st century to match the breakthroughs creating an inflection point in this fight,” Biden wrote in a letter to Obama that accompanied his report.
The task force’s five strategic goals are to:
1. Catalyze new scientific breakthroughs — The task force emphasized the importance of “fostering interdisciplinary approaches for elucidating the biological mechanisms underlying cancer onset and treatment,” ensuring research and care are aligned “as a seamless and iterative process,” and maximizing both the collection and research use of data and biospecimens.
2. Unleash the power of data — Shared technologies and policies are required to allow for “seamless” use of clinical and research data, according to the task force. Open publications, storage platforms and next-generation computer architectures can unlock scientific advances, but the scientific workforce must be “capable of using the open and connected data environment,” members wrote.
3. Accelerate bringing new therapies to patients — The task force emphasized the importance of expediting the process by which potentially lifesaving products are moved into the clinic through maximizing efficiency in regulatory review and licensing, offering incentives for pre-competitive collaborations and improving data sharing across sectors.
4. Strengthen prevention and diagnosis — The task force called for the promotion of policies, programs and outreach efforts to help Americans reduce their cancer risk. The panel also emphasized the need for a greater understanding of “environmental determinants of cancer” and improved cancer screening.
5. Improve patient access and care — The report highlighted the need to identify ways to expand access to health care; adopt “workable policies to improve cancer prevention, detection and quality of care;” and ensure “every patient receives quality care during treatment and survivorship.”
The moonshot is grounded in principles such as data aggregation, expedited regulatory review, the engagement of all relevant stakeholders and a willingness to embrace new technologies. The effort also is intended to yield tangible benefits, such as increased clinical trial participation, expanded access to care, and new payment models that reward quality of care rather than quantity, Biden said.
“We are on the cusp of so many enormous breakthroughs,” Biden said. “We made it to the moon, but there was only one moon. There are 200 cancers. This is harder. It’s not susceptible to a single diagnosis or treatment. Each requires an enormous sense of urgency.”
The report summarized 19 actions that either have already been accomplished or are on target for completion in the first year of the moonshot initiative. These include expanding researchers’ access to cancer compounds, creating a preclinical research partnership to evaluate the potential of particle beam radiotherapy, promoting the cancer prevention benefits of HPV vaccination, creating a new program to accelerate cancer product regulatory review, establishing an open-access resource to share cancer data, and strengthening requirements for public availability of clinical trial information.
The report also outlined 27 goals proposed for the second year of the moonshot initiative and beyond. These include the ability to quickly analyze the molecular profiles of thousands of tumors, the modernization of clinical trial eligibility criteria, identification of strategies to improve HPV vaccination rates in the United States, implementation of smoking cessation strategies in the Medicaid population and increased uptake of colorectal cancer screening.
“We have a long way to go, but we’re in a new place,” Biden said. “It’s our obligation ... to inject a sense of urgency to seize the moment. ... We’re just getting started.”
Biden called the cancer moonshot “the last bastion of genuine true bipartisanship.” He predicted Congress will provide a significant increase in funding this year and a commitment to sustain funding for the next 10 years.
“The cancer moonshot is a movement that lives in communities across the United States and across the world,” Biden said. “It will live on because the need is too great and the promise is even greater.
“It won’t be easy, but we can do this,” he added. “We can give more time. We can give more hope. And we can do it together, right now. Not tomorrow — right now.” – by Mark Leiser and Kristie L. Kahl
References:
Report of the cancer moonshot task force. Available at: medium.com/cancer-moonshot. Accessed on Oct. 17, 2016.
www.foxchase.org/blog/cancer-moonshot-summit-fox-chase-watch-it-here.