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Today, President Biden reignited Cancer Moonshot, an initiative he launched in 2016 while serving as Vice President.
The Biden-Harris Administration has set aggressive new goals for Cancer Moonshot, including “reducing the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years, and improving the experience of living with and surviving cancer,” a statement from the White House said. “Taken together, these actions will drive us toward ending cancer as we know it today.”
Cancer Moonshot’s approach to improving outcomes for cancer patients mirrors PanCAN’s: both look at early detection, genetic testing, addressing inequities, supporting patients and caregivers, making data available for researchers and so much more.
As First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, an advocate for cancer education and prevention, shared on her Twitter earlier today, “Cancer touches us all. Working together, we can end cancer as we know it.”
Our statement on the relaunch of Cancer Moonshot is provided below.
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) applauds President Biden for relaunching the Cancer Moonshot initiative and setting long-term, ambitious goals of reducing the death rate from cancer by 50% over the next 25 years, improving the experience for patients and families living with and surviving cancer and ending cancer as we know it today.
While there have been tremendous advancements in the last 20 years with more people surviving and living with cancer, the progress has been very slow when it comes to pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer death in the United States and the five-year survival rate is just 11% – the lowest survival rate of all major cancers. With no early detection test and few effective treatment options, there continues to be an urgent need to increase funding, research, and awareness to improve outcomes for people with pancreatic cancer.
And that is why PanCAN’s vision is to create a world in which all patients with pancreatic cancer will thrive. It’s why we take bold action every day to reach that goal. We fund transformative research—everything from early detection to innovative new treatment approaches. Our PanCAN Patient Services program provides free, personalized patient support about treatment options, diet and nutrition, and other resources so that no patient and family must face this disease alone. And we work with thousands of grassroots advocates to urge Congress to increase federal research funding for pancreatic cancer and to raise awareness and funding in local communities.
We have set an ambitious goal to see the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer increase to 20% by 2030 and we look forward to working with the Biden Administration and other patient advocacy organizations to reach that goal – and to create better outcomes for all cancer patients.
