Standing Together for Publicly Funded Cancer Research

It’s been estimated that more than half a million patients are now receiving treatment or follow-up care on NCTN trials, at more than 2,200 clinical sites in all corners of the country.

Cuts to NCI funding and staffing levels would threaten the continued operation of this network, the continuity of care of these patients, and continuing advances in cancer treatments. For reasons both scientific and ethical, we can’t abandon these volunteers, not to mention all those who potentially might be affected by cancer in the future.

We are pleased that many of our elected representatives realize that even a temporary break – or significant dip – in NCI funding would have long-term consequences, given how many years it takes to fully realize a return on the large-scale late-phase clinical trials the NCTN specializes in.

Earlier this summer, the Senate Committee on Appropriations reasonably, and in bipartisan fashion, recommended an increase in funding to the National Institutes of Health (home to the NCI) in the face of a proposed 40 percent cut to the NIH’s budget. We applaud the Committee and hope the House Committee on Appropriations will take a similar stand in recognizing the value of biomedical research. 

Our superpower here is our patients. Patient stories have impact and the power to move, and stories from patients who have enrolled to and/or benefited from NCTN clinical trials need to be heard. We hope our members and patients will carry this message forward and also speak out in support of continued robust funding for public powered cancer research.

The NCTN cooperative groups have a 60-plus year history of success and impact, along with decades of bipartisan endorsement of the value of cancer research that’s conducted in the interest of public health (versus a primary interest of profit). Slashing funding for such research is something Americans would end up regretting. 

Read the group chairs’ open letter to Congress.

Please join us in advocating for federally funded cancer research, and thus, for our patients.