President Obama's 2017 budget, released on Monday, proposes $5.9 billion to support biomedical research, an increase of $680 million or 13% from the previous year, according to the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO), which lauded the proposal.
The budget also includes $1 billion to accelerate progress in cancer treatment and detection through the Cancer Moonshot Initiative to be headed by Vice President Joe Biden.
ASTRO said it sent a letter to Biden yesterday articulating the reasons why ASTRO supports the moonshot effort. These include the growing need to develop and employ radiation in combination with other therapies for cancer treatment, opportunities to leverage advances in big-data analytics, and the need to increase access to clinical trials and the latest cancer research, according to the organization.
ASTRO said it stands ready to work with the vice president and thought leaders in the cancer community to explore the multidisciplinary approaches that will be needed to fight the disease. Most cases will require more than one treatment modality.
