President Joe Biden’s cancer moonshot is a common-ground program, not just for Republican and Democratic lawmakers but also for everyday Americans. And for good reason: Cancer is the second-leading cause of death in the U.S., according to the CDC. But a contrarian cadre of oncologists, researchers and scientists who spoke to Erin and Ruth says there’s a case to be made that the $1.8 billion Congress has appropriated for the moonshot since 2016 could have been better spent. Gilbert Welch isn't sure more funding is a good thing. “There’s so much money sloshing around,” Welch, an internist and senior investigator at the Center for Surgery and Public Health at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said of the cancer industry. There’s no shortage of research funding: — The National Cancer Institute had a nearly $6.4 billion budget for cancer research in 2021, and its annual spend has grown since 2015. — Cancer nonprofits like the American Cancer Society also raise hundreds of millions of dollars each year. — The pharmaceutical industry has ample incentive to put money behind increasingly lucrative cancer diagnostics and therapeutics. — Research shows that, from 2010 to 2019, revenue generated from cancer medicines increased by 70 percent among the top 10 pharmaceutical companies to reach $95 billion. Who’s spending also matters: Industry accounts for two-thirds of research funding. “It’s good that they’ve got a lot of drugs that they’re testing,” said Zeke Emanuel, an oncologist, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a former White House adviser. “What’s bad is having industry shape the clinical research agenda because industry has a bias.” Emanuel’s solution: stronger government leadership and more nonindustry sponsors. The White House emphasizes that the moonshot’s mission extends beyond funding cancer research. It’s a priority, the administration says, but the program also focuses on: — Promoting patient navigation services to help people with cancer and caregivers navigate screenings, diagnosis, treatment and survivorship. — Continuing the public health fight against smoking by encouraging smokers to quit and nonsmokers not to start. — Updating the nation’s cancer systems to promote clinical trial networks and encourage sharing among research entities. — Funding the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health to drive research breakthroughs.
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