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Houston scientists hope to reduce cancer deaths

Category: Cancer Detection and Tumor Markers

Researchers from the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, have developed a new $3 billion strategy to reduce instances where unfortunate information from blood tests for cancer biomarkers lead to deaths, according to the Associated Press (AP)

Dubbed "The Moon Shots Program" in honor of President John F. Kennedy, this initiative has been described as two agendas that will be enacted simultaneously. The first is meant to better utilize what is known about cancer, while the other involves understanding what must be learned in order for the disease to be cured.

"The Moon Shots Program signals our confidence that the path to curing cancer is in clearer sight than at any other time in history," Ronald DePinho, president of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, told the AP.

The news source further notes that the scientists are focused on preventing more deaths from lung, breast, ovarian and prostate cancer, as well as leukemia and melanoma during the next 10 years. DePinho has already developed new blood tests for mice that determine if they should undergo more complex screenings for cancer.

"The world would profit from more institutions taking an ambitious approach like this," Clifford Hudis, a breast cancer researcher from New York, told The Wall Street Journal. "The problems are big and complex."