during the last 12 months.
Among the advances outlined in the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2018 are “revolutionary new immunotherapeutics called CAR T–cell therapies, exciting new targeted radiotherapeutics, and numerous new targeted therapeutics that are expanding the scope of precision medicine,” the AACR said in a written statement.
Despite this progress, however, cancer continues to pose immense public health challenges.
The number of new cancer cases in the United States is predicted to increase from more than 1.7 million in 2018 to almost 2.4 million in 2035, due in large part to the rising number of people age 65 and older, according to the report.
AACR calls on elected officials to:
- Maintain “robust, sustained, and predictable growth” of the National Institutes of Health budget, increasing it at least $2 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2019, for a total funding level of at least $39.1 billion.
- Make sure that the $711 million in funding provided through the 21st Century Cures Act for targeted initiatives – including the National Cancer Moonshot – “is fully appropriated in FY 2019 and is supplemental to the healthy increase for the NIH’s base budget.”
- Raise the Food and Drug Administration’s base budget in FY 2019 to $3.1 billion – a $308 million increase above its FY 2018 level – to secure support for regulatory science and speed the development of medical products, ones that are safe and effective. Particularly, in FY 2019, the AACR backs a funding level of $20 million for the FDA Oncology Center of Excellence.
- Provide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Cancer Prevention and Control Programs with total funding of at least $517 million. This would include funding for “comprehensive cancer control, cancer registries, and screening and awareness programs for specific cancers.”
Read the full report and watch video stories from patients here.