Senator Ted Kennedy’s death from brain cancer underscores the urgent need for more funding of basic cancer research. Despite the best efforts of a team of top doctors, Kennedy died 15 months after the diagnosis of a malignant brain tumor called glioblastoma. Over the past ten years, some progress has been made against this deadly illness and the silhouettes of some promising new approaches are becoming visible. But our treatment options remain woefully inadequate.
With over 560,000 cancer deaths each year, that comes to less than $10,000 in research spent for every cancer death. That simply is not enough money spent on a problem that strikes almost 1.5 million Americans each year and causes nearly one of four deaths.
Research for certain cancers is especially under funded. Earlier this year, I helplessly watched a dear friend and patient die from esophageal cancer, both of us knowing that only 22 million dollars each year – about $1,500 per death – was being spent by the NCI on the disease annually. One reason is that patients with esophageal cancer don’t have a strong advocacy group to push for their fair share of the funding pie. Lung cancer, which tops the list of cancer killers in America, only gets about $1,500 per death. At the top of the list based on research spending per death are cervical cancer (about $19,000), breast cancer (about $14,000) and brain cancer (about $12,000).
Click here for a chart that I compiled with the help of statisticians at the NCI that breaks down government spending on the top cancers.
Of course, there shouldn’t have to be a competition among cancer advocacy groups. There should be adequate funding of basic medical research to help discover the underlying cellular mechanisms that many cancers share and that hold the key to prevention, early diagnosis and effective treatment. But there’s not enough money for our young researchers. In 1980, almost 25 percent of first independent government grants went to scientists under age 35; that figure has plummeted to only 4 percent as the first-grant age rose from 34 to 42.
Faced with increasing competition for shrinking dollars, many of our best and brightest are considering other careers.
My cancer patients desperately need a bailout. The best way to increase our spending on cancer research responsibly is through health care reform. The Institute of Medicine has estimated that about 20 percent of the annual $2.5 trillion in health care costs is unnecessary. That’s $500 billion annually or 100 times the current budget of the National Cancer Institute. There could be no better tribute to Senator Kennedy or wiser investment in our own futures than to fix a broken system that threatens to bankrupt us while inadequately addressing one of our most devastating health problems.
For this week’s CBS Doc Dot Com, I take you behind the scenes to an edit bay at the CBS Broadcast Center in New York. I talk to Dr. Henry Friedman, an expert on brain cancer. He is co-deputy director of the Preston Robert Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University Medical Center. In addition to hearing about the latest treatments for the disease, you’ll see the secret behind how we do long-distance interviews for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
Dr. Ramona Bates is a plastic surgeon who quilts. Dr. Rob Lamberts is a primary care physician who loves animals that begin with the letter “l” (such as lobsters and llamas). The two have put their creative minds together to benefit brain cancer – in honor of a fellow blogger whose young son is losing his battle with the disease.
This holiday season, you might consider bidding on Dr. Bates’ “lobster quilt” to support brain cancer research. There is a silent auction in progress here. Owning the quilt would make a good story, and the return on investment could be priceless. You can search for updates on the auction on Twitter: #lobsterquilt
P.S. Note that Dr. Rob has also started a traveling lobster initiative – where Zippy the plastic lobster is photographed by medical bloggers around the world to enhance awareness of brain cancer. I had the honor of hosting this little crustacean last summer, and took him to the White House. To learn more about Zippy’s travels, check out this website: http://funwithzippy.com/
Cameron J. Mitchell was diagnosed with a glioblastoma multiforme (or GBM, an aggressive form of brain cancer) over four years ago. The prognosis for this tumor is usually grim, as most people succumb to it within 4 to 18 months of diagnosis. However, Cameron got involved in a clinical trial for a promising new therapy and has beaten the odds. Since Revolution Health was founded partly in response to Dan Case’s battle with a GBM (and I had the opportunity to participate in the Race for Hope to benefit Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure last weekend), I thought it would be great to highlight Cameron’s story. Cameron also happens to be a close friend of one of our staff at Revolution Health.
Dr. Val: Tell me about how you were diagnosed with a brain tumor. What symptoms did you have? What led up to the diagnosis?
First of all as you can imagine getting the news is like being hit by a truck. You think, “this just can’t be happening to me.” And of course the “why me?” scenario comes into play.
My initial diagnosis came after having a bout of seizures, both grand mal and partial. After a series of tests and procedures they determined that the ongoing problem was the result of a brain tumor. The typical protocol requires 6 weeks of radiation along with oral chemotherapy followed up with a visit to your oncologist to determine a plan of action.
Dr. Val: How did you find out about the Duke clinical trial?
Being that the “plan of action” did not have a very favorable outlook I asked my oncologist, “What would you do in this case?” He suggested I contact the Duke Brain Tumor Center. He actually made the initial call. Later that night I received a call from Dr. Henry Friedman saying that they could help. By the end of the week I received a call from Dr. John Sampson telling me that he was working on a specific clinical trial. As long as I could meet some prerequisites I would be eligible to participate. A lot of thought and pondering goes into that decision: “Is it the right one?” “What if it does not work?” But at that point nothing else had been proven, so my wife and I decided that I have nothing to lose to give it a chance.
Dr. Val: What have the treatments been like for you? Do you have any advice for other patients with GBM?
The treatments are an ongoing, once a month procedure, and I travel from Michigan to North Carolina for them. So it definitely is a huge sacrifice but at for very worthy cause. Having MRIs every two months can create a lot of anxiety not knowing if the tumor is back or not.
The four main pieces of advice I could give to new GBM patients are: 1) Get as much as information as you can. Ask lots of questions. 2) Keep a positive attitude (SO IMPORTANT). 3) Keep a strong group of supporters like family, friends and especially spouse. 4) Remember that this is NOT your fault.
There are a lot of very good sites out there on the internet for advice. But one thing to keep in mind, some of them are a little outdated. The better sites allow you to ask questions.
Dr. Val: What advice do you have for family members and loved ones of those diagnosed with a GBM?
Family members must be informed about what is going on. Under absolutely no circumstances should they be left out in the cold. Most patients find out early that their spouse has at least as much (if not more) difficulty dealing with this disease as the patient.This post originally appeared on Dr. Val’s blog at RevolutionHealth.com.
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