Senate Hearing Focuses on Collaboration and the Future of the 'War on Cancer'

The  U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) held a full committee hearing on "Cancer: Challenges and Opportunities in the 21^st Century" on Thursday May 8, 2008. The committee is considering new cancer legislation at a time when a leveling off of National Cancer Institute (NCI) funding for independent investigators and laboratories is widely regarded as hampering the pace of cancer research.

Distinguished panelists included Mrs. Elizabeth Edwards, Senior Fellow, The Center for American Progress; Mr. Lance Armstrong, Founder, Lance Armstrong Foundation; Mr. Steve Case, Chairman and CEO, Revolution Health; Dr. Edward Benz, President, Dana Farber Cancer Institute; Mr. Greg Simon, President, Faster Cures; and Ms. Hala Moddelmog, CEO, Susan G. Komen For the Cure. Full text of panelists' testimony as well as video of the hearing can be viewed at the following link: HELP Hearing

Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), chairman of HELP, voiced his, and the committees, dedication to renewing the war on cancer that was started thirty seven years ago with passage of the National Cancer Act. Sen. Kennedy acknowledged the significant progress that has been made since 1971, while calling for a renewed urgency in the fight against cancer. He stressed the need for comprehensive legislation to address the nation's cancer crisis and for an "entirely new model for research, prevention and treatment."

Mrs. Edwards focused on the importance of widely available and adequate health insurance, and access for all to the proper screening, care and promising treatments and trials available today.

Mr. Armstrong focused on the importance of early detection and that "no matter what age, race or sex, everyone has the right to the proper health care - health care that can prevent, help with early detection, and treat disease."

Mr. Case's testimony stressed the need for collaborations between top cancer centers, biotech companies, and the NCI and FDA, while challenging the community to change the way we continue to fight cancer.  Mr. Case drew comparisons of how lessons learned from building the internet can be translated into fighting cancer. He addressed the need to move away from "the model that treats cancer based on where it appears in the body and toward a model where the focus is on signaling pathways, new technologies, biomarkers and novel clinical trials."

Dana-Farber President Edward Benz, MD, urged legislators to "view cancer research through the widest possible prism" and warned that the progress made in the fight thus far could come to a standstill if funding is not increased.

"At a time when science is giving us the opportunity to make the decisive difference, the trend in this country in health care and research policy and financing is going to prevent us from taking advantage of that opportunity," Benz said at the hearing, adding "We have the science in hand. We can develop therapies. The next step is to get them out in the field where they'll make a difference."

Greg Simon of Faster Cures focused on the need for a changed strategy in the fight against cancer and willingness to challenge the long held assumptions about cancer research. "We can't cure any of the diseases we're wrestling with, with the system we've got," said Simon. He also called for a "renewed commitment to supporting medical research through meaningful investments of financial and human capital." Mr. Simon echoed his fellow panelists calls for collaboration by emphasizing the necessity to "reshape the research enterprise by forging strong collaborations and partnerships between researchers in government, academia, nonprofit, and industry."