The year 2011 represented the 40th anniversary of the signing of the National Cancer Act (Senate bill 1828, enacted December 23, 1971) in which President Richard Nixon waged war on cancer.  This bill has unarguably been the most important cancer initiative at the level of the Federal Government in the last 100 years in our country.  During his speech announcing the signing of the Act to members of Congress, President Nixon indicated that "I hope in the years ahead we will look back on this action today as the most significant action taken during my administration". This act was intended to amend the Public Health Service Act so as to strengthen the National Cancer Institute in order to more effectively carry out the national effort against cancer.  It was President Nixon's specific intention to find a cure for cancer by 1975.

The act gave the National Cancer Institute (NCI), created in 1937, unique autonomy and budget authority with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) allowing it to broaden its scope and coordinate the national effort against cancer with the establishment of new institutes and the hiring of scientists.  In 1972 the NCI was composed of the Office of the Director and four divisions: Cancer Biology and Diagnosis, Cancer Cause and Prevention, Cancer Treatment and Cancer Grants, (subsequently renamed the Division of Cancer Research, Resources and Centers and later the Division of Extramural Activities).  From an historical perspective, it is clear that the Act was, in essence, discovering hope for Americans with cancer.   While translational research had not yet been formerly defined in 1971, the National Cancer Act of 1971 represented, in part, a translational effort that would realize hope for patients with malignant disease.  On March 4, 2002 United States Senator Debbie Stabenow unveiled legislation on the National Cancer Act of 2002 that included plans to modernize and re-energize the nation's war on cancer.  The bill (HR 4596) called for a comprehensive Federal effort relating to treatments for, and the prevention of cancer, and for other purposes.  Interestingly, this bill never became law.

So, where are we in our war on cancer some 40 years later?  On September 20, 2011 The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) released the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2011.  From 1990 to 2007 death rates for all cancers combined dropped 22% for men and 14% for women, resulting in nearly 900,000 fewer deaths during that time.  In 2011 more than 68% of adults live five years or more after being diagnosed, up from 50% in 1975.  The five-year survival rate for all childhood cancers combined is 80%, compared to 52% in 1975.  Some of the greatest successes included breast cancer deaths falling about 28% from 1990-2006, deaths from cervical cancer dropping nearly 31%, colorectal cancer deaths dropping 28% in women and 33% in men, and deaths from stomach cancer dropping 34% in women and 43% in men. The University of Tennessee Cancer Institute can similarly claim a success story in advances in survival statistics of many human cancers.  When comparing the 5-year survival rates of breast cancer from 1990 and 2006, for example, we realized a 33% decrease in mortality amongst patients treated in our Cancer Institute.  The mortality rate for colorectal cancer similarly declined approximately 33% related to these two time points.  We should be proud of these statistics as they point out our discovering hope for patients with these malignant diagnoses and others.

I hope that the information contained within this 2010 report of the Cancer Institute is valuable to you.  The years to come will undoubtedly be challenging and gratifying for us as we continue to wage our war on cancer.

Sincerely,

Eric R. Carlson, DMD, MD, FACS
Chair, Clinical Cancer Committee

Dr. Eric Carlson