Overall, the response to Blue Ribbon Panel recommendations for guiding the Cancer Moonshot initiative were well received, though some patient advocates say a few key issues were overlooked.
In early September 2016, the Blue Ribbon Panel, a group of more than 150 scientists, clinicians, patient advocates, and industry representatives convened by the National Cancer Institutes’s National Cancer Advisory Board, published its Top 10 recommendations to guide future endeavors of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative.
The recommendations, which were informed by input from the research community and the public, emphasized “the importance of direct patient engagement in cancer research, a deeper understanding of why some therapies work and others do not, the dynamics of tumor evolution, and the need for mechanisms of data sharing, access, and analysis,” wrote Dinah S. Singer, PhD, and two other cochairs of the Blue Ribbon Panel in an article published in Science (2016 Sep 7. doi: 10.1126/science.aai7862).
Dr. Nancy Davidson
“The recommendations that were announced today by the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel are vitally important to accomplishing the goal of the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative, which is to achieve a decade’s worth of advances in five years,” wrote American Association for Cancer Research President Nancy E. Davidson, MD, in a statement.
“The panel’s thoughtful work makes an important contribution to the Cancer Moonshot Initiative,” wrote American Society for Clinical Oncology President Daniel F. Hayes, MD, in a statement. In an interview, Dr. Hayes added that innovations in information technology and the focus on improving interoperability of electronic health records were two important strengths of the recommendations that will be “critically important to deliver high-quality, high-value oncology services to individuals with cancer.”
Michelle Esser, senior program manager at the Young Survival Coalition (YSC), agreed that the recommendations are good initial steps. However, she pointed out two issues that the recommendations overlooked. “First, is the lack of mention or understanding of the adolescent and young adult (AYA) oncology patient population,” Ms. Esser noted during an interview. “The report specifically called out pediatric cancer as an area of needed research, but AYAs, whose survival rates lag behind those of older and younger patients with a similar diagnosis, and for whom cancer is the leading cause of disease-related death, were not mentioned.”
Second, there was little mention of cancer metastasis, she said. “It is not an early-stage cancer diagnosis that kills, it is when cancer metastasizes and spreads that it becomes deadly. Out of the 10 recommendations only 1 mentions metastasis. If we want to make a difference in cancer outcomes, there needs to be focus on understanding why metastasis occurs, how to prevent it, and how to cure it.”
In order for these recommendations to really expedite the nation’s progress against cancer, “It is crucial that Congress provide the necessary funding to support the priority projects identified by the Blue Ribbon Panel and those we will hear about from the Task Force and Vice President’s Executive Reports later this year,” reported Dr. Hayes, a sentiment echoed by Dr. Davidson.
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