Cancer Moonshot Panel Releases “Blue Ribbon” Recommendations
Download PDF of Recommendations
The Washington Post (9/7, McGinley) highlights a report released by a “blue-ribbon panel” of “top cancer researchers and patient advocates” as part of the White House’s cancer moonshot. The report recommends that cancer researchers and others adopt a list of 10 goals aimed at improving cancer research, cancer patient care, and related matters.
Congressional Quarterly (9/7, Williams) reports the recommendations were submitted by the National Cancer Advisory Board to the National Cancer Institute. The article points out that the Cancer Moonshot Task Force is expected to release a separate report in October “that will outline the activities federal agencies will engage in this year to advance the moonshot initiative, as well as provide recommendations for future administrations.”
On its website, NBC News (9/7, Fox) reports the panel urged cancer researchers to obtain “more tailored data from individual patients,” and also encouraged researchers and physicians to focus on further developing immunotherapy treatments for cancer. The article quotes Dr. Douglas Lowy, the acting director of the National Cancer Institute, who said, “Immunotherapy is important. We need to understand it better. It is an extremely exciting area of medicine and science today but even now it only benefits a subset of patients.”
STAT (9/7, Scott) reports the panel also recommended “the creation of a new national network that would allow cancer patients across the country to have their tumors genetically profiled and included in a new national database.”
Fast Company (9/7, Captain) reports the “national cancer data ecosystem” would “link up patient databases from around the country, such as those kept by hospitals, universities, nonprofits, and government institutes so that researchers could access information like biopsy reports beyond those at their own institutions.” The article notes the National Institutes of Health has collaborated with “a half-dozen hospitals and universities to form the Undiagnosed Disease Network, which pools data on super-rare conditions.”
The AP (9/7, Neergaard) reports that another recommendation is to learn more about “what drives childhood cancer.”
ASCO Praises Blue Ribbon Panel’s Recommendations. The ASCO Post (9/7) quotes ASCO President Dr. Daniel F. Hayes who said, “We applaud the Blue Ribbon Panel for its work and the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) National Cancer Advisory Board for convening the panel. In addition, we are most grateful to President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden for conceptualizing and launching the Cancer Moonshot Initiative. ASCO stands ready to help implement this report’s findings, along with the other efforts of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, when they are announced in October.” The article points out that, “ASCO submitted key recommendations to the panel for the implementation of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative, focused on harnessing cutting-edge information technology and other innovations to hasten the trajectory of progress in cancer research.” The article summarizes the 10 recommendations outlined in the blue ribbon panel’s report.
Source: ASCO Post
