This year’s Clinical Cancer Advances report highlights 51 of the most significant studies, including 15 that the editors consider major advances that have the potential to lead to a reduction in mortality from cancer.
To achieve new breakthroughs, the scale of the national response must match the scale of the problem. Years of flat federal research funding have resulted in abandoned or stalled clinical research projects, a deteriorating research infrastructure, and the loss of talented physicians to other fields. In this report, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) commends the recent increases in funding and calls on Congress to make a multiyear commitment to sustained increases in clinical cancer research at the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute. Major advances in cancer treatment cannot be expected to emerge without consistent and predictable investment at the federal level.
These advances would not be possible without the nation’s investment in cancer research. However, cancer still claims the lives of more than 560,000 Americans each year. In this report, ASCO also makes recommendations for accelerating the pace of progress against cancer by dramatically increasing cancer research funding, strengthening the nation’s clinical research system, and ensuring people with cancer receive high-quality care.
