Photo Credit: WhiteHouse.gov
June 29th, 2016 was Cancer Moonshot day. Over 270 summits across the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam were held. These events initiated the conversation and collaboration between scientists, advocates, researchers, physicians, genetic counselors, politicians, oncologists, nurses, data and technology experts, and patients among others. The goal of the Cancer Moonshot Initiative is to double our progress in finding cures for cancer; to achieve a decade’s amount of progress in 5 years.
Vice President Joe Biden was named the leader of this initiative by President Obama and gave his final State of the Union address to kick off all the summits. He stressed the urgency of the project, the importance of collaborating and communicating, and how crucial it is for us to learn from each other.
He expressed the complexity of cancer and how it is not one disease, “There are over 200 distinct types of cancer, a complicated disease to treat and understand.” The Vice President painted a picture of a future if this initiative is a success, “Imagine when the thread of cancer is a distant memory. when kids can be vaccinated for cancers”.
Our #hcchat tweetchat, with our brilliant co-hosts Georgia Hurst and Amy Byer Shainman, discussed the Cancer Moonshot with Dr. Vincent DeVita, the Chief of Medicine at NCI during Nixon’s Cancer Act. We asked Dr. DeVita a series of questions to hear his expertise then opened to audience members to ask questions.
#Hcchat is now evolving into #GenCSM which will expand to cover genetic cancer social media along with hereditary cancer.
Question 1: How did you feel about Nixon’s Act when it was first proposed?
#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A1:1/3 I was #ChiefofMedicine at #NCI when the act was passed & like most people at #NIH …
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A1:2/3 I was against it because we didn’t want to be told what to do by the #FederalGovernment.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A1:3/3: After meeting #MaryLasker, I became a convert.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Question 2: Who was Mary Lasker and how did she change your mind about the Cancer Act?
#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A2:1/6 #MaryLasker was a philanthropist who had a keen instinct for what was important in #medicine.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A2:2/6 She had to her credit, before the #CancerAct, the national high blood pressure program…
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A2:4/6 …which reduced #mortality from TB, & the formation of the #AmericanCancerSociety.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A2:5/6 When I met her I was very impressed with her logic, insight & vision for the #WarOnCancer.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Question 3: Would you say that Nixon’s Cancer Act was a success? Why?
#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A3:2/20 The mandate of the act was “to support research & the application of the results of research…
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A3:3/20 …to reduce the incidence, #morbidity & #mortality from #cancer” & it has done all of those things.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A3:4/20 Two thirds of the over #100BillionDollars that went into the #cancer program went to support #research.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A3:6/20 …national #ClinicalTrialsPrograms were started with support from the #cancer program.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A3:9/20 #Mortality rates from #cancer have been declining since 1990 with an overall decrease of 25% since then.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A3:15/20 We went from the disfiguring radical #mastectomy w no effect on #mortality, to #lumpectomy w #radiotherapy.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A3:20/20 The 25% decrease in #mortality from #cancer we have today has resulted in 1000x return on money invested.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Question 4: How is the National Cancer Moonshot Initiative to accelerate cancer research different/similar to Nixon’s act?
#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A4:1/3 It’s different. The #CancerActof1971 was a sustaining program & #Moonshot is a one-time infusion of funds.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Question 5: What was the most important thing you learned from working on Nixon’s Initiative that could be helpful to the Moonshot?
#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A5:1/2 I learned the need to be specific on how the money is spent.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Question 6: What are the greatest challenges facing the Moonshot?
#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A6: 3/3. Linking #research in the private sector to the government program.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Question 7: How crucial is data sharing to the success of the Moonshot?
#hcchat A7:2/3 In the clinical area, for example, we have much to learn about how specific molecular abnormalities affect outcome…
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A7: 3/3…so this information can be used in others with similar molecular abnormalities.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Question 8: What would be realistic expectations of the Moonshot?
#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A8: 3/3 It should accelerate #research findings from the lab to the clinic.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Question 9: People still believe that we can cure #cancer, as though it’s one disease. What would be a more accurate goal?
#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A9: 1/6 A goal to cure #individual #cancers is perfectly fine.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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#hcchat #CancerMoonshot A9: 3/6 We can #cure a substantial fraction of some #cancers now.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Dr. Vincent DeVita answered questions from the audience…
@DeVitaDoctor How do we best message #Moonshot to get stakeholder buy-in w/o backfiring from unrealistic expectations? Thanks! #hcchat
— Elissa Malcohn (@Elissa_Malcohn) June 29, 2016
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@Elissa_Malcohn What is unrealistic is the impression that we are starting at zero. Over half of all cancers are #curable now.
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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@DeVitaDoctor How soon do you foresee less invasive cancer risk reducing strategies for #BRCA mutation carriers/those w/#hereditarycancer?
— Amy Byer Shainman (@BRCAresponder) June 29, 2016
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@BRCAresponder #hcchat #CancerMoonshot Perhaps better chemoprevention methods, w fewer side effects in next decade. #BRCA #hereditarycancer
— Vincent DeVita (@DeVitaDoctor) June 29, 2016
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Read the full transcript here or search #Hcchat on Twitter. Have a question or comment you didn’t get to contribute? Please post in the comments below.
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