CHICAGO, Jan. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ –President Barack Obama is the first new President to develop a comprehensive cancer plan.
While the plan reflects strong emphasis on oncology, disturbingly no reference is made to prevention, and the wide range of avoidable causes of cancer.
The plan defines and coordinates the responsibilities of four federal agencies: the National Cancer Institute (NCI), for research and clinical trials; the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, for epidemiological follow up and support of cancer survivors; the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, for funding cancer related care; and the FDA, for regulating cancer drugs.
In 1971, Congress passed the National Cancer Act which authorized the National Cancer Program, calling for “an expanded and intensified research program for the prevention of cancer caused by occupational or environmental exposures to carcinogens.” Shortly afterwards, President Richard Nixon announced his “War Against Cancer,” and authorized a $200 million budget for the NCI. Since then, its budget has escalated by nearly 30-fold, to $5.3 billion this year.
Meanwhile, the incidence of a wide range of cancers, other than those due to smoking, has escalated sharply from 1975 to 2005, when the latest NCI statistics were published. These include malignant melanoma (172%), Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (79%), thyroid (116%), testis (60%), and childhood cancers (38%).
As widely reported in the November 26, 2008, press, the NCI claimed that the incidence of new cancers has been falling from 1999 to 2005. However, this is contrary to its latest statistics. These show increases of 45% for thyroid cancer, 18% for malignant melanoma, 18% for kidney cancer, 10% for childhood cancers, and 4% for testes cancer.
Disturbingly, the NCI has still failed to develop, let alone publicize, any listing or registry of avoidable exposures to a wide range of carcinogens. These include: some pharmaceuticals; high dose diagnostic radiation; occupational; environmental; and ingredients in consumer products — food, household products, and cosmetics and personal care products. The NCI has also failed to respond, other than misleadingly or dismissively, to prior Congressional requests for such information.
In March 1998, in a series of questions to then NCI Director Dr. Richard Klausner, Congressman David Obey requested information on NCI’s policies and priorities. He asked “Should the NCI develop a registry of avoidable carcinogens and make this information widely available to the public?” The answer was, and remains, no. Klausner’s responses made it clear that NCI persisted in indifference to cancer prevention, coupled with imbalanced emphasis on damage control–screening, diagnosis, treatment, and clinical trials.
Moreover, NCI’s claims for the success of “innovative treatment” have been sharply criticized by distinguished oncologists. In 2004, Nobelist Leland Hartwell, President of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Control Center, warned that “Congress and the public are not paying NCI $4.7 billion a year,” most of which is spent on “promoting ineffective drugs” for terminal disease.
It should be further emphasized that the costs of new biotech cancer drugs have increased more than 100-fold over the last decade. Furthermore, the U.S. spends five times more than the U.K. on chemotherapy per patient, although their survival rates are similar.
The Obama Cancer Plan is subject to Congressional authorization, and funding approval by Congressman David Obey, Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, and Senator Robert Byrd, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. These committees are now in a position to require that major priority should be directed to cancer prevention rather than just to oncology. Clearly, the more cancer is prevented, the less there is to treat. As importantly, this will also be of major help in achieving President Obama’s goal “to lower health care costs.”
As cancer prevention scientists and advocates, we strongly welcome the new Administration with joy and hope.
Samuel S. Epstein, MD
Professor emeritus Environmental & Occupational Medicine
University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health,
Chairman, Cancer Prevention Coalition
2121 West Taylor Street, MC 922
Chicago, IL 60612
ENDORSERS
Nicholas A. Ashford, PhD, JD
Professor of Technology and Policy
Director,!MIT Technology and Law Program
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Rosalie Bertell, PhD
International Association for Humanitarian Medicine
International Science Oversight Committee for the Organic Consumers Association
Yardley, Pennsylvania
James Brophy, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Board of Directors, Toxic Free Canada
University of Windsor
Ontario, Canada
Richard Clapp, D.Sc., MPH
Professor
Boston University School of Public Health
Boston, Massachusetts
Paul Connett, PhD
Professor Emeritus of Environmental Chemistry,
St. Lawrence University
Canton, New York;
Executive Director
Fluoride Action Network
Canton, New York
Ronnie Cummins
National Director
Organic Consumers Association
Finland, Minnesota
Tracey Easthope, MPH
Director, Environmental Health Project
Ecology Center
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Lennart Hardell, MD, PhD
Professor
Department of Oncology
University Hospital
Orebro, Sweden
Hazel Henderson, D.Sc.Hon., FRSA, author, futurist
President, Ethical Markets Media, LLC;
Co-Creator, the Calvert Group of the Calvert-Henderson Quality of Life Indicators
Margaret Keith, PhD
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Board of Directors Toxic Free Canada
University of Windsor
Ontario, Canada
Joseph Mangano, MPH, MBA
Executive Director
Radiation and Public Health Project
New York, New York
James R. Melloh, MD, MS
Robert Wood Johnson Family Medicine Fellow
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine
Portland, Maine
Vicente Navarro, MD, PhD
Professor of Health Policy
The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions
Baltimore, Maryland
Peter Orris, MD, MPH, FACP, FACOEM
Professor and Chief of Service
Environmental and Occupational Medicine
University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center;
Professor, Internal and Preventive Medicine
Rush University College of Medicine;
Professor, Preventive Medicine
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Chicago, Illinois
Lawrence A. Plumlee, MD
President, Chemical Sensitivity Disorders Association
Bethesda, Maryland
Horst Rechelbacher
President, Intelligent Nutrients
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Janette D. Sherman, MD
Adjunct Professor Environmental Institute
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan
Eileen M. Wright, MD, ABIHM
Great Smokies Medical Center
Asheville, North Carolina
Daphne Wysham
Fellow, Institute for Policy Studies
Washington, District of Columbia
Quentin D. Young, MD
Chairman, Health and Medicine Policy Research Group
Chicago, Illinois
CONTACT: Samuel S. Epstein, M.D.
312-996-2297,
fax: 312-413-9898 (include cover sheet)
epstein AT uic DOT edu
CORRECTION: It was inadvertently reported that Senator Robert Byrd is Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee. Daniel K. Inouye is the current Chairman.
Also, Dr. James R. Melloh’s name was misspelled as Mellow. CPC apologizes for the errors.