But how close are we really to harnessing our scientific resources to make victory over cancer a reality? For answers, West Central Florida residents may wish to follow the Town Hall discourse scheduled for Monday by H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute and Friends of Cancer Research.

Moffitt Cancer Center experts will point out that prevention and early detection enable heart disease researchers and clinicians to improve the prospects for millions of Americans at risk of cardiac illness.

For success in 2015, we must accelerate research in the areas that represent our best hope of conquering this devastating illness - which we understand as a collection of 200 related diseases with distinct properties.

While there is significant progress in our knowledge of cancer at the genetic and molecular level, we face flat funding for the nation's pre- eminent research facilities. This not only slows momentum in moving drugs from the laboratory to the bedside, but also discourages our best young scientists from entering the cancer research field.

An additional obstacle is the uncertain future of large-scale clinical trials, in which community-based oncologists investigate new therapies. In a recent survey of private-practice oncologists by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, 42 percent said they would stop conducting clinical trials if Congress continued to enact Medicare cuts.

Every American needs to engage in this struggle, pushing Congress, the administration and the regulatory agencies to provide critical resources.

Certainly, we possess the tools required to make cancer curable or manageable - but we will see results only if we preserve and advance the remarkable progress we have already achieved fighting cancer.

William S. Dalton, Ph.D., M.D., is CEO of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa. Ellen V. Sigal, Ph.D., is founder of Friends of Cancer Research, a not-for-profit organization focused on advancing efforts in finding a cure for cancer.