Investing in the USA's cancer 'Moonshot' initiative

During his 2016 State of the Union Address, US President Barack Obama called on Vice President Biden to lead a new, national “Moonshot” initiative to eliminate cancer as we know it. On Monday, the White House announced a new $1 billion initiative to jumpstart this work.

Too many American families know all too well the devastation cancer can bring.  More than 1.6 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and cancer will kill an estimated 600,000 Americans in 2016. Cancer doesn’t discriminate – it strikes young and old, family and friends, neighbors and co-workers. As the President said, we must harness the spirit of American innovation to identify new ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer.

A White House statement said: “We are at an inflection point, and the science is ready for the concerted new effort this initiative will deliver. Cancer is now known to be hundreds of diseases, each with unique features, driving forces, and vulnerabilities to treatments - and scientific understanding of how cancer develops and spreads has improved our ability to intervene and attack it. For example, recent advances have led to the ability to activate the immune system against cancer cells.”