Obama Declares War on Cancer

[IsaacNewton]

You can tell when a political party has reached rock bottom.

Its when a person of the opposing party says "let's cure cancer" and the response is, FORGET IT YOU BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH.

WTF happened to Republicans. Honestly. How did they get so f#$ked up that they whine about someone wanting to cure cancer?

 

[BluesLegend]

Breaking: Obama declares war on asteroids, vows to create a real life asteroids space weapons system.

 

[mudwhistle]

Does no one know that Nixon already did that rediculus declaration of war on a non war? It's as if now that Obama has proven himself to be Carter II, now he wants to be Nixon II.

Government declares War on Poverty: We get a lot more poverty.
Government declares War on Illiteracy: We get a lot more illiteracy.
Government declares War on Drugs: We get a lot more drugs.
Government declares War on Terror: We get a lot more terror.
Government declares War on Cancer: Oh, crap. I see where this is going...

I expect him to be as effective on cancer as he was fighting ISIS.

 

[Agit8r]

Breaking: Obama declares war on asteroids, vows to create a real life asteroids space weapons system.

SDI? The budget hawks will never allow it!

 

[waltky]

Cancer Moon Shot may include Veterans blood bank...

Veteran Blood Bank May Play Key Role in Cancer 'Moon Shot'
Jan 19, 2016 | Veterans are likely to play a significant part in what has been called "the Moon shot" in cancer research -- the plan announced by President Barack Obama last week for a cancer fight effort to equal the country's determination to put a man on the moon during the 1960s.

Fittingly, the veterans' role in the cancer Moon shot, as well as in scores of other research projects into illnesses that impact vets and non-vets alike, will be doing something they were prepared to do back in their active duty days: shed some blood. "When they realize that this could help other veterans most of them volunteer right away" when asked, VA Secretary Bob McDonald said during a visit to the VA Medical Center in Boston on Friday, when he toured the lab and growing biorepository.

The VA project, called the Million Veterans Program, predates the cancer Moon shot by six years. Its goal is to collect blood samples -- and with it the DNA -- of at least a million veterans, and use it to research illnesses, including at the genetic level. "This is fascinating what they're doing here," McDonald said. "The whole role of genomics will be huge in, and that's one of the reasons we wanted you to see this, because I think the work of the Million Veteran Project underscores the importance of genomics in the Moon Shot in eradicating cancer." It is veteran-centric, for sure, and already is being used in alpha and beta projects that focus on veteran issues, according to the VA.

The veterans' blood samples, informed by medical health records that, depending on the veteran, may go back 20 or more years, could hold the key to understanding causes and discovering treatments and cures for myriad illnesses. The VA is looking at some 750,000 genetic markers that medical researchers believe could be linked to illnesses that plague veterans, ranging from cancers to heart disease, kidney disease to post-traumatic stress disorder. To date, the effort has collected close to 445,000 vials of blood, each one spun in a centrifuge prior to storing to divide red cells, white cells and plasma. The vials are kept in an oversized refrigeration unit within a lab at the hospital.

Although the project name suggests it will store a million samples, it will continue to grow the biorepository as long as there is funding support and vets who volunteer. There is storage space for several million samples. During a tour of the lab, McDonald climbed a ladder to look into the storage site, where a robotic arm, kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius, plucked newly deposited vials one at a time from small containers and moved them into trays that were then automatically transferred into the unit and stored at minus 80 degrees Celsius. "When I do my recruiting speech to try to attract people to VA, this is exactly the issue -- come be on the cutting edge, the tip of the spear [in medical research] that can make a difference in so many people's lives," McDonald said.

MORE

 

[The Rabbi]

There is a war on cancer if you or someone close to you has had it. My Dad died of cancer.

KMA Weatherdolt.

WhT AN IDIOT.
Like you're the only one wwith a relative who died of cancer.
Do you think your father might have lived if Obama had declared war on cancer earlier?

 

[bendog]

Does no one know that Nixon already did that rediculus declaration of war on a non war? It's as if now that Obama has proven himself to be Carter II, now he wants to be Nixon II.

Government declares War on Poverty: We get a lot more poverty.
Government declares War on Illiteracy: We get a lot more illiteracy.
Government declares War on Drugs: We get a lot more drugs.
Government declares War on Terror: We get a lot more terror.
Government declares War on Cancer: Oh, crap. I see where this is going...

Given that gene therapy may be a reality soon, this isn't as crazy as you prefer to make it.

 

[Lucy Hamilton]

Does no one know that Nixon already did that rediculus declaration of war on a non war? It's as if now that Obama has proven himself to be Carter II, now he wants to be Nixon II.

Government declares War on Poverty: We get a lot more poverty.
Government declares War on Illiteracy: We get a lot more illiteracy.
Government declares War on Drugs: We get a lot more drugs.
Government declares War on Terror: We get a lot more terror.
Government declares War on Cancer: Oh, crap. I see where this is going...

What's Obama going to do? Send his favoured military drones to attack cancer?

 

[waltky]

Can Obama's cancer campaign succeed?

What will President Obama's cancer 'moonshot' achieve?
Fri, 08 Apr 2016 - Deborah Cohen looks at what the "moonshot" targeting cancer announced by President Obama can seek to achieve.

In January, US President Barack Obama announced a "moonshot" for cancer. "Let's make America the country that cures cancer once and for all," he said in his last State of the Nation address. President Obama put Vice President Joe Biden in charge of mission control. For Mr Biden it's personal - he lost his son Beau to brain cancer at the age of 46 last year. The cancer moonshot is a $1bn (£710m) injection of cash intended to bring a decade's worth of advances in just five years. It is focusing on new approaches such as combining treatments and immunotherapy, when drugs make the patient's own immune system turn against cancer cells.

There will also be more resources for new gene technologies to improve cancer detection. A further area of research is into more vaccines to prevent cancer. Mr Biden sees his role as breaking down walls and bringing all the cancer fighters together. Today many hospitals do not share data. Doctors don't always know about the latest successful therapies. "We're going to make sure this information is shared so an oncologist in Austin, Texas can get access to information at MD Anderson, a major cancer institute [at the University of Texas] where my son was treated - geographically close but no access," said Mr Biden earlier this year.

More precise surgery

There have been considerable improvements in recent decades in some cancer treatments. Thirty years ago patients with a cancer diagnosis had a one in four chance of surviving for more than 10 years. Now that figure is close to one in two. "Underlying that general picture, it's a very mixed story," says Prof Nic Jones of Manchester University and research lead for Cancer Research UK. "In testicular cancer and breast cancer tremendous progress has been made. But in lung, pancreatic and brain cancer really very little progress has been made. "We really need to focus our research effort on these areas." A combination of targeted treatments, better and earlier diagnosis and more precise surgery and radiotherapy has led to longer survival. Changing lifestyles, such as giving up smoking, has also made a difference.

Immunotherapy is starting to make an impact, but only on a few patients. Adrian Webb is one of the lucky ones. In 2012, he noticed that he had a mole that had changed colour. It turned out to be a malignant melanoma. After initial treatment, the disease returned and this time it had spread. He was given a year to live. His doctor at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham gave him a chance to be in a clinical trial of immunotherapy. "After 12 months I was told that I was part of the 5% team. The therapy hadn't worked for the other 95%," he said. The cancer had shrunk remarkably to a small part of Mr Webb's lung. He is now well enough to run marathons. There are still considerable challenges for cancer researchers and doctors to discover successful and safe treatments. We do not have magic bullets.

Drug costs

 

[IsaacNewton]

Breaking: Obama declares war on asteroids, vows to create a real life asteroids space weapons system.

No that was Reagan who never got it done. And that game was popular during Reagan's criminal years in office, good to bring it back.

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - Uncle Joe gonna cure cancer just like Al Gore invented the interweb...

Biden Urges Global Focus on Cancer as a 'Constant Emergency'
April 29, 2016 - U.S. Vice President Joe Biden on Friday sought to focus the global community's attention on cancer research, calling the disease a "constant emergency" and urging that new treatments be made available more quickly.

Biden, addressing a conference on regenerative medicine at the Vatican, said that "as we stand on the cusp of unprecedented scientific and technological change of amazing discoveries that were once unimaginable breakthroughs, we cannot forget that real lives and real people are at the heart and reason for all that we do." More than 3,000 people die from cancer each day in the United States alone, the vice president said.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden speaks during a meeting in Paul VI Hall at the Vatican​

Pope Francis made his own plea for stepped-up cancer research, stressing the need to combat a system that he said prioritizes profits over human life. "We need to oppose an economy of exclusion and inequality that victimizes people when the mechanism of profit prevails over that of human life," the pontiff said. "This is why the globalization of indifference must be countered with the globalization of empathy."

Last year, Biden lost a son, former Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, to brain cancer, and months later he called for a major effort to find a cure for cancer — characterizing the project as a "moonshot" — when he announced he wouldn't run for president. The American Cancer Society reports that more than 1.6 million new cases will be diagnosed in 2016 and close to 600,000 people will die of the disease in the U.S.

Biden Urges Global Focus on Cancer as a 'Constant Emergency'