Vice President Al Gore has called for increased funding for cancer research and urged Congress to approve measures to widen access to clinical trials and protect patients’ rights.

Speaking to The March: Coming Together to Conquer Cancer on Sept. 26 in Washington, also challenged NCI to complete the following tasks:

  • Finalize procedures to include patient advocates on peer review committees.
  • Speed the process of enrolling patients on clinical trials.
  • Develop new techniques for early detection.

The three initiatives have been in development at the Institute for the past year. NCI Director Richard Klausner said the Institute would have procedures for integrating patient advocates into peer review committees by Gore’s deadline of next spring.

“This is the commitment we made to the Director’s Consumer Liaison Group to integrate advocates into all NCI peer review processes,” Klausner said to The Cancer Letter. “We will have all procedures in place by that time.”

The Institute also has been working on ways to speed patient enrollment by developing a “clinical informatics infrastructure” to facilitate computer protocol design in the NCI-supported clinical trials cooperative groups, Klausner said. “The Vice President is challenging us to move that ahead as quickly as we can,” he said.

The third item, Gore’s challenge to scientists to develop new diagnostic techniques, stems from NCI’s new Unconventional Innovations Program (The Cancer Letter, Sept. 11).

Excerpts of the text of Vice President Al Gore’s speech follow:

This is not just a noon rally for efforts to fight cancer. This marks high noon for cancer. We’re determined. It was more than a quarter of a century ago that our nation first formally declared war on cancer, and we’re here today because we want to be the generation that wins that war….

Taking a lesson from the survivors, we all ought to begin today to imagine a day when America is cancer-free. Imagine waking up in a world where not a single child hears the word “chemotherapy.” Imagine waking up in a world where children in kindergarten start the school year with a nap, a flu shot, and a routine cancer immunization. Imagine what it would be like to visit the buildings of the Smithsonian museums here and see an exhibit of relics of the past and see right next to the iron lung, the radiation machine.

This dream can happen in our lifetimes. But to get there, we have to make cancer research a priority today. It is time, because this disease has haunted this land and hurt America’s families for way too long.

In our time, 40 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with cancer, 40 percent will die from it. If you are wondering what that means, visit another memorial here, the Vietnam memorial…. If we were going to build a monument for all the Americans who died from cancer, we would have to build 10 of those walls every year. We have to allow ourselves to feel the emotional imperative that comes from that overwhelming tragedy. Like so many of you, when I hear the word cancer, I don’t first think of numbers or statistics. I see faces. And one face in particular brings back a flood of memories. The faces of all those I have known who have died of cancer bring back a flood of memories and emotions.

We have all seen what cancer does, and we are here today because we hope for a day when it will not happen to anyone else. And now, thanks to your determination, and your work, and thanks to the breathtaking advances in science, we are closer to a cure than we have ever been.

From 1991 to 1995, cancer deaths actually dropped for the first time in history. As we meet here today, the first medicines to prevent prostate cancer, colon cancer, and breast cancer are being tested. Many of you have fought hard for cures to specific kinds of cancer even as you have fought for more research money to unravel the mystery of all cancer.

Tipper and I have run in the Race for the Cure for five years, but one of the happiest days of our lives will be when none of us have to run that race again, when our efforts will result in victory.

President Clinton and I have worked to play a responsible role in this progress. We have helped cancer patients keep health coverage when they change jobs. We have ordered the FDA to accelerate the approval of cancer drugs. We have increased funding for cancer research. We’ve worked to end the single most preventable form of career by stopping our children from smoking cigarettes. Today we are taking unprecedented new steps to build on that progress and the effort to make cancer a relic of the past.

First of all, President Clinton and I proposed the largest increase in cancer research in history this year. Somewhere in America today, a young researcher has an idea that will one day lead to a cure for cancer. It’s out there. And it would be a tragedy if that idea was lost because he couldn’t find funding for his project. This march and this gathering proves that Democrats and Republicans can come together to conquer cancer. There is partisanship, there is no ideology, there are no politics. We are
united as Americans in support of this cause.

We also need to do more to ensure that patients are involved when research decisions are made. Because nobody knows more about this disease in some the aspects than cancer patients. Your voice must be heard. That’s why today we are announcing that by next spring, the National Cancer Institute will have procedures in place to assure that patients have a full voice, every step of the way.

We need to be sure that these advances are used to improve treatment for people with cancer. We are just a few years away from the complete sequencing of all the genes in the human body. In 1996, I had the privilege of unveiling the Cancer Genome Project, an historic effort to unravel the genetics of cancer. I’m proud to report to you today that already, this project has more than doubled its original goals. And today we issue an historic challenge to the scientific community. As we unlock the genetic code, let’s make certain that we develop new diagnostic techniques for every major kind of cancer by the year 2000, so we can catch it at its earliest and most preventable stage.

The history of wars shows that when we crack the code used by the enemy, we win the war. That’s why we are going to win this war for America’s families.

Third, let’s do more to improve access for patients to cutting edge clinical trials. We won’t cure cancer if only 3 percent of America’s cancer patients are enrolled in clinical trials. Today, we are directing the National Cancer Institute to speed up the process to allow patients to be enrolled on the spot with no wait.

We are also calling on Congress to pass our proposal to cover the patient care costs for Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in clinical trials. Let’s open up the clinical trials.
America’s senior citizens make up more than half of all cancer patients. They deserve to have the latest weapons to fight it. More clinical trials means more cures and means more progress toward finding the cure.

Fourth, we need to continue to improve quality breakthrough medications and treatments for cancer. Two years ago, we launched an historic effort to speed up the drug approval process while maintaining quality. In just two years, we have more than doubled the number of approvals for new therapies. Today, we have a new weapon in the war against breast cancer. Just last night, the Food and Drug Administration approved a brand-new, cutting edge drug to treat breast cancer. And this will help 1.6 million diagnosed with breast cancer each year.

Incidentally, one other thing we can do to advance this fight: I would respectfully request Congress to not go home until it confirms cancer specialist Jane Henney to be the first woman commissioner in the history of the Food and Drug Administration.

Fifth, we need to make sure that these advances are used to improve the quality of life for cancer patients. As we crack the genetic code, it should be used to improve treatment and never to increase discrimination. No person should have his or her health care or job put at risk because they are genetically found to be at risk for cancer. I urge Congress to pass our proposal to give all Americans the protection that they deserve and protect the privacy of medical records.

We also believe there should be a strong patients’ bill of rights, because if you are in the middle of chemotherapy, you shouldn’t be forced to stop treatment or change doctors just because your employer changes health plans.

In closing, ladies and gentlemen, some people still say that it is impossible to find a cure for cancer. Whenever you hear someone say that, just remind them that 100 years ago, they said exactly the same thing about smallpox. Sixty years ago, they said exactly the same thing about polio. People who felt differently then, came together and expressed their determination to find a cure. The cynics and skeptics were wrong then, and they are wrong today.

We are going to find a cure for cancer! We will not rest until we find a cure for cancer! We demand the resources to find a cure for cancer!

When people say that we cannot find a cure, we say, “Yes, we can!”

When they say we can’t make prevention work, we say, “Yes, we can!”

When they say Americans will never come together across the lines that divided us in the past and demand a cure, we say, “Yes, we can!”

When people say, “No, we can’t,” we say, “Yes, we can!”

Can we save lives? (Crowd: “Yes, we can!”)

Can we save families? (Crowd: “Yes, we can!”)

Can we find a cure? (Crowd: “Yes, we can!”)

Will we end cancer? (Crowd: “Yes, we will!”)

I believe it, I know it, I feel it from you. Working together, marching together, fighting together, I know that we will.

Yes, we can, and yes, we will!