October 25, 2007

Cancer cluster

Experts from across the cancer spectrum, including the head of the Food and Drug Administration, participated in a forum at the medical school to discuss the future
of cancer research.

FDA Commissioner Andrew C. von Eschenbach says the war on cancer "has a lot of superstars, but not a superstar team." He advocates greater collaboration among the scientific, clinical, legislative, and regulatory communities.

Cancer deaths are dropping at double the rate of just a few years ago, and new genetic markers are helping physicians identify the presence of the disease in patients in earlier stages, when it is most treatable.

That was the good news presented at “Discovery to Delivery: A Public Forum About the Future of Cancer Research” held at the School of Medicine’s Anlyan Center on Monday [October 22].  The eight panelists, representing the scientific, clinical, regulatory, legislative, and advocacy communities, agreed that science is making significant strides in prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The largest challenges, they said, are  securing more funding and cultivating stronger collaborations across the cancer spectrum, so these scientific advances can more rapidly be used to benefit patients.

The forum, sponsored by Yale Cancer Center, Yale-New Haven Hospital and Friends of Cancer Research, covered a wide range of topics, from the importance of early detection and the ways in which biomarkers are enabling physicians to customize patient care, to the struggle for federal money to fund cancer research and the racial disparities in cancer incidence, screening, diagnosis and care.

At the end of the two-hour session, moderator Susan Dentzer, health correspondent for the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, asked panelists to identify the one thing they would like to see done to advance the crusade against cancer. Here are some of their answers:

FDA Commissioner and former National Cancer Institute Director Andrew C. von Eschenbach: “We have the ability to recognize enormous talent, but we haven’t brought it together. We have a lot of superstars, but not a superstar team. [Fighting cancer] needs to be a team effort. There needs to be a national commitment. We need to bring all the parts and pieces together.”

Edward Chu, deputy director and chief of medical oncology, Yale Cancer Center: “We need to enhance our efforts at community outreach so that we can better educate the public as to the benefits of screening and early detection. We already have many of the tools necessary to effectively screen for breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and prostate cancer.”

Gary J. Kelloff, special advisor, Cancer Imaging Program, National Cancer Institute: “We need to create more public-private partnerships, including patent attorneys. We need to make the process more efficient.”

Daniel DiMaio, scientific director, Yale Cancer Center:  “Unfortunately, because of funding cuts, we are now in a crisis.  Much important science is not being done, and much is being done on a shoestring. We need to restore funding to a level so that more highly meritorious research can be supported, so that we can maintain the momentum we have achieved and accelerate future discoveries.”

Susan Mayne, director of prevention and control, Yale Cancer Center: Increase NIH funding. We have an explosion of opportunity in cancer prevention research resulting from advances in cancer biology, genomics and informatics, but that is not being paralleled by an explosion in research. Currently, only grants ranking in the top 11-15th percentile are being funded, and typically, that’s only after multiple submission attempts. This delays the discovery of new advances by months to years, and it wastes large amounts of human capital on grant-writing instead of cancer research.

Barbara Cooney Oliver, cancer survivor; executive director, Y-ME Connecticut Affiliate: “I would like to see more educational outreach programs regarding cancer and early detection of cancer being done in communities throughout the nation.”

U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro: “We need to make a significant and consistent investment in research—putting institutions like the NIH and the National Cancer Institute on a path of stable sustainable funding, rather than the boom-or-bust approach of last decade—and combine it with continued outreach, education, and screenings. They are powerful tools that give us real hope.”

Dentzer had the final word, and she used it to rally the troops: It’s a bad idea to underestimate this enemy, she said. But it’s also a mistake to overestimate it. “These are vulnerable cells.”

—Jennifer Kaylin

Photo by Terry Dagradi

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