The Moonshot Initiative
In a perspective published in the New England Journal of Medicine on May 19, 2016, NCI Acting Director Douglas Lowy, M.D., and NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., explain why they believe the time is right for a renewed surge against cancer.
U.S. cancer mortality rates have decreased by 23%, as medicine has saved an estimated 1.7 million lives and prevented immeasurable suffering. Much of this success has been fueled by strong, sustained federal investments in basic, epidemiologic, and clinical research and resulting advances in prevention, screening, diagnosis, and therapy. Yet more progress is urgently needed. Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the United States and is expected to kill nearly 600,000 Americans in 2016 — about 1600 people every day.
“We’re talking about prevention and early detection. I’m convinced we can get answers and come up with game-changing treatments and get them to people who need them. We have an opportunity to fundamentally change the trajectory” (Vice President Joe Biden, University of Pennsylvania Abramson Cancer Center, January 15, 2016).
"It's time to stop thinking of 'one size fits all' screening for breast cancer and invest in personalized breast screening to serve the the unique causal and masking risks of each woman. Randomized controlled trials of mammography have demonstrated that the magnitude in the reduction of advanced disease equals the magnitude in the reduction of mortality, reports Dr. Nancy Cappello, Founder Are You Dense Inc. Furthermore, we can shoot for the moon now by giving women with dense breast tissue equal access to an early diagnosis through multi-modal screening to reduce advanced disease."