WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is turning his attention to policy goals closest to his heart now that he is no longer seeking a second term and will visit New Orleans on Tuesday to promote his administration’s “moonshot” initiative aimed at dramatically reducing cancer deaths.
The President and First Lady Jill Biden will tour medical facilities and then deliver a speech at Tulane University about how the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health “is accelerating advances in how we prevent, treat and detect cancer,” the White House said. The agency is part of the Department of Health and Human Services.
Before Biden leaves office in January, he hopes to bring the U.S. closer to the goal he set in 2022: reducing cancer deaths in the U.S. by 50% over the next 25 years and improving the lives of caregivers and people with cancer.
According to experts, the goal is achievable, provided sufficient investment is made.
“We are curing people of diseases that we previously thought were absolutely incurable and unsurvivable,” said Karen Knudsen, CEO of the American Cancer Society and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network.
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the U.S. after heart disease. This year alone, the American Cancer Society estimates that 2 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and 611,720 people will die from cancer.
Still, “if all the innovation stopped today and we could just give people access to the innovations we already know about, we think we could reduce cancer mortality by another 20 to 30 percent,” Knudsen said.
For Biden, the issue is personal enough. In his recent Oval Office speech announcing his withdrawal from the 2024 campaign, the president vowed to keep fighting for “my cancer moonshot, so that we can eradicate cancer as we know it.”
“Because we can,” Biden said then.
He said in that speech that the initiative would be a priority during his final months in office, along with working to strengthen the economy and defend abortion rights, protecting children from gun violence and making changes to the Supreme Court, which he called “extreme” in its current composition at a recent rally.
Both the president and first lady Jill Biden have had lesions removed from their skin in the past that were diagnosed as basal cell carcinoma, a common and easily treatable form of cancer. In 2015, their eldest son, Beau, died at age 46 from an aggressive brain tumor.
The president has had a much smaller public schedule since dropping out of the race and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris, making Tuesday’s trip particularly notable.
Advocates have praised Biden for raising awareness of cancer, bringing stakeholders together and getting commitments from private companies, nonprofits and patient groups.
They say the Biden administration’s increased focus on the issue has put the nation on track to cut cancer deaths by at least half, preventing more than 4 million deaths from the disease by 2047. This has been done by improving access to cancer treatments and reminding people of the importance of recommended screenings, which have taken a setback during the coronavirus pandemic.
“President Biden’s passion and dedication to this effort have made monumental differences for the entire cancer community, including those living with cancer,” said Jon Retzlaff, chief policy officer at the American Association for Cancer Research.
Looking ahead, Retzlaff said, “The most important thing is that we see robust, sustained, predictable annual funding for the National Institutes of Health. And when we see that through NIH and through the National Cancer Institute, the programs that were created through the cancer moonshot can continue.”
Initiatives under Biden include changes that make screening and cancer care more accessible to more people, said Knudsen of the American Cancer Society.
For example, Medicare has begun covering follow-up colon exams if a stool test suggests cancer, she said. Medicare will also now pay for navigation services to help patients navigate the maze of cancer care.
“You’ve already paid for the cancer research. You’ve already paid for the innovation. Now let’s bring it to the people,” Knudsen said.
She also said she would like to see the next government pursue a ban on menthol cigarettes, which she said could save 654,000 lives over the next 40 years.
Scientists now understand that cancer is not one disease, but hundreds of diseases that respond differently to different treatments. Some cancers have biomarkers that can be targeted by existing drugs that slow tumor growth. Many more targets await discovery.
“We hope that the next administration, whoever it may be, will continue to focus and emphasize our national commitment to ending cancer as we know it,” said Dr. Crystal Denlinger, CEO of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, a group of elite cancer centers.
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Johnson reported from Washington state.
