As I watched President Biden touting his cancer “moonshot” initiative at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston on Sept. 11, I had a distinct deja vu moment. It brought to mind the hoopla surrounding President Nixon’s announcement of his “Cancer Conquest Program” in May 1971. Nixon’s declaration of a “war on cancer” certainly caught the public’s attention. It led to enactment of the National Cancer Act of 1971, which was designed to marshal the country’s research resources to eradicate this dread disease.
As a legislative assistant for a U.S. senator at the time, I did some research and discovered an earlier effort to bring cancer to heel. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the National Cancer Act of 1937, making the conquest of cancer a national goal. So, the nation has a long history of grappling with this multi-pronged disease but still has a long road to travel before victory is at hand.
Substantial strides have been made in bringing various types of cancer under control since 1937. Some varieties are more treatable than others. I’d known quite a few men with prostate cancer and several women with breast cancer, but all varieties of cancer were an abstract concern for me until Jan. 13, 2017. Dr. Gupta called that day to say he had “bad news” about an ultrasound. It was pancreatic cancer. I asked if it was a death sentence and he responded, “not necessarily.” The “necessarily” was rather unsettling. The cancer was stage 2B (great for a punster like me – 2B or not to be).
What followed was surgery at the skilled hands of Boise surgeon Josh Barton, who said they had caught the tumor just before it “exploded,” and follow-up treatment by a very talented Boise oncologist, Dan Zuckerman, who pronounced me virtually cured last week. It was remarkable luck because only 11.5 percent of pancreatic cancer victims are still alive five years after their diagnosis.
It is common for people with cancer, particularly a cancer with a low survival rate, to feel isolated. When you converse with someone who is aware of your condition, you can sense they believe you are not long for the living world. You feel it yourself.
What helped me get over the rough spots was the marvelous RBG, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. I’d admired her legal and judicial career but took heart from her 2009 victory over pancreatic cancer. If that wisp of a woman could prevail, why not me? She was my North Star. It grieved me tremendously when she eventually succumbed to cancer.
These past five years, I’ve paid attention when news comes out about a pancreatic cancer diagnosis, both of prominent victims and those closer at hand. The figures say it is relatively rare (3.2 percent of all new cancers and 8.2 percent of all cancer deaths), but it seems to get more than its share of media coverage (“Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebec, former Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) and so many more).
There are two things that pancreatic cancer victims are puzzled about: Why does the survival rate remain so low when strides are being made with many other cancers? And what caused their disease in the first place? The president’s moonshot initiative can perhaps answer those questions, if it is adequately funded and carried out in a sustained manner.
Biden has called for a DARPA-like program that will heavily fund research into innovative treatment for a wide range of cancers. The moonshot has the laudable objective of reducing the number of cancer deaths by 50 percent in the next 25 years. The death of Biden’s son Beau from brain cancer is a powerful motivator for the initiative. But unless the president builds a sturdy foundation for the program and gains strong public support for continued funding well into the future, the history of cancer conquering in the country demonstrates that the effort may flag under future presidents.
And we should not forget the old, but tried and true, saying that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” The president’s remarks in Boston primarily dealt with treatments and cures. The most effective way to deal with the panoply of cancers is to identify and reduce or eliminate exposure to the carcinogens that cause the disease.
The cause or causes of pancreatic cancer are unknown. Medical personnel always ask if you are or have been a smoker, but there are no definitive studies to indicate that smoking is a cause. The same holds true for many other types of cancer.
There are many everyday products that have been placed on the market for human use with little or no research into their potential for causing cancer — Roundup, personal care products containing benzene, asbestos and so many more. The cancer-causing effects of many products are only discovered from the outcome of class-action lawsuits brought to recover damages for countless unnecessary deaths.
Manufacturers should be required to ensure new products have no carcinogenic effects before placing them on the market. And funding for the National Toxicology Program, which studies and identifies carcinogens, must be substantially increased.
Long-term funding and preventive action are essential if the promise of the moonshot is to be achieved. President Biden is to be commended for this worthwhile initiative, but, as with golf and many other worthy endeavors, success depends on the follow through.
Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho attorney general (1983-1991) and 12 years as a justice on the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He is a regular contributor to The Hill.