We are pleased to announce the arrival of the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2014, which can be found here (http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/20/19_Supplement/S1.full.pdf+html). Past versions of the report are freely available to all CCR subscribers and the general public on the journal website (http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org) and the report website (http://www.cancerprogressreport.org), where print copies may be requested.
The AACR Cancer Progress Report, published annually, is a cornerstone of the efforts put forth by the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to increase public understanding of the ways in which research transforms lives and to advocate for sustained increases in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which are desperately needed if we are to save more lives in the future. As a result, we feel that both the research community and the general public will find the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2014 of interest, and we are delighted to provide free access to it through the journal website.
The report delineates the many ways in which research fuels progress against cancer by chronicling advances in cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment between August 1, 2013, and July 31, 2014. The inspiring personal stories of the cancer patients and survivors featured throughout the report are a testament to the fact that research really is transforming lives, and a reminder that more work must be done to continue to make progress against cancer.
The report has seven main sections. The first section, “Cancer in 2014,” provides readers with an overview of the current situation: Significant progress has been made against cancer, but the disease remains a major health care challenge and a huge financial burden both nationally and internationally. The second section, “Developing Cancer,” is a far-reaching description of our current understanding of cancer biology and how we are exploiting this growing knowledge to improve health care.
In the third section, “Healthy Living Can Prevent Cancer From Developing, Progressing, or Recurring,” readers are reminded that more than 50% of the 585,720 cancer deaths expected to occur in the United States in 2014 will be related to preventable causes. As a result, adoption of healthy approaches to living could significantly decrease the number of people diagnosed with certain types of cancer.
The fourth section of the report, “Transforming Lives Through Research,” describes recent progress in biomedical research, with a focus on how genomics is transforming clinical trial design and clinical care, and recent advances across the continuum of clinical care from cancer prevention to management of cancer survivorship issues. Highlighted in detail are the scientific bases for the new anticancer therapeutics and new anticancer therapeutic indications that received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration between August 1, 2013, and July 31, 2014. Most of these therapeutics specifically target molecular defects arising from cancer-specific genetic mutations and are often beneficial to patients and less toxic than older, less-targeted therapies. As discussed in the fifth section, “What Progress Does the Future Hold?” these types of therapeutics are likely to become more common as we see greater deployment of genomics and computational biology.
In the sixth section, “A Prescription for Increasing the Rate of Progress Against Cancer,” readers are reminded that future progress is dependent on research, which can be translated for the benefit of patients, that will continue to expand our knowledge of cancer. This research will only be possible, however, by investing in research talent, tools, and infrastructure, and by advancing policies that support the entire spectrum of biomedical research.
Federal support for the NIH and NCI has made possible much of the extraordinary progress against cancer detailed within the report. The report concludes with a call to action that urges Congress and the administration to put the NIH and NCI budgets back on a path of predictable growth by providing annual budget increases at least comparable to the biomedical inflation rate and by protecting the NIH from future funding cuts. The AACR also issues a rallying cry to all Americans to stand in support of federal investments in biomedical research and to make their voices heard by policymakers.
In short, the report reminds us that research has transformed the lives of many. However, because cancer will likely touch us all at some point in our lives, we must invest the time, effort, and resources necessary to continue making lifesaving progress.
- Received August 13, 2014.
- ©2014 American Association for Cancer Research.
Volume 20, Issue 19
