THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS: How to Reduce Millions of Preventable Deaths and Trillions of $ WASTED

Aug. 30, 2012 - PRLog -- This Congress is the largest event organized by the UICC expecting about 2,000 participants in the field (researchers, healthcare providers, hospitals, cancer organizations, public administrators, politicians, physicians). Now is the time to express your opinion about the reality of this calamity that continues to take millions of premature lives every year. Ask your most urgent questions that you would like answered by the participants of this Congress at request@UnitedToEndCancer.org

Proof that we are losing the war on cancer is that during the past 50 years:

•   The cost to treat cancer has increased 100 times

•   The premature cancer death toll has now reached over 200 million (today it is 6.5 million per year and is estimated to double by 2030 if we do not act)

•   The global economic cancer cost has now reached over $30 trillion (today it is $1.4 trillion per year)

•   This huge cost has had almost zero results in cancer death reduction (only 5%, mainly due to lifestyle changes and cessation of smoking by many, and not from merit of research)

The UICC made a declaration in 2008 to achieve a significant reduction of the cancer burden by 2020; this target date will fail (like President Nixon’s target date of 1980 failed, and other declarations of 1990, 2000, and 2010 failed), unless those who raise or spend money to fight cancer provide a plan for gradual achievement of their estimated reduction in cancer deaths and cost.

Data from government agencies (e.g. National Cancer Institute –NCI-), including the World Health Organization (WHO), American Cancer Society (ACS), show that in 2008 the number of premature cancer deaths for the age group 55-74 was 500 deaths for every 100,000 people, and the cancer cost per-capita in industrialized countries was $700 per year.

To avoid the failure of UICC’s 2008 target declaration there needs to be a plan in place with clearly defined measurable goals to cut in half the premature cancer death rate and cost.

A realistic plan to achieve this goal would be that by 2012, 2016, and 2020 the number of premature deaths measured in the same age group has dropped (respectively) to 410, 320 and 250 in every 100,000 and the cost has dropped (respectively) to $580, $460 and $350 per-capita.

Since this drop cannot occur overnight, it is necessary to identify projects that can reduce premature cancer deaths by 1%, 10%, 30% or 50%, then fund and test them on a sample population; those showing effectiveness should be extended to a large population to reach UICC’s target of a significantly lower burden in mortality rate and cost.

UICC, ACS, NCI, WHO and all cancer organizations and fundraisers should be looking for solutions that have a potential to reduce the number of deaths, whether it be a vaccine, a drug, a screening device, or a program to educate at-risk individuals to change their lifestyle.

Each project, supported by scientific arguments, claiming to save lives should provide a plan to measure the results on a sample population; for example 10,000 people in the age group 55 to 74 taken from a location where, in the previous 20 years, the mortality rate was constant (e.g. 0.5%). A difference or no difference in the mortality rate will determine the success or failure of the proposed solution.  

Without a plan, what has happened is that cancer research is not achieving the trend of reduction reported above (500, 410, 320 and 250) and the cost of cancer in the US, instead of decreasing, has increased from $700 per-capita in 2008, to $856 per-capita in 2010 (calculated by dividing the 2010 U.S. cancer cost of $263.8 billion by its population in 2010 of 308 million people).

To reverse these trends, funding needs to be contingent on a clear and realistic analysis of how the proposed project will achieve the goal of reducing cancer deaths and cost. In the interest of transparency, the evaluation of the impact of research programs on cancer death reduction must be debated in a public forum where scientists defend their research before other competent scientists as well as the taxpayers and philanthropists who pay for the research. Only when no scientific arguments are presented to invalidate the proposed research and a high probability of impacting the rate of cancer deaths is demonstrated should the approach be funded and tested experimentally.

Citizens and philanthropists who fund the fight against cancer deserve to receive a return for their money in terms of a significant reduction of cancer deaths. Therefore, they should demand that cancer funding be contingent on a clear cancer death reduction goal by signing the petition to “Stop Preventable Deaths,” (http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-preventable-deat...) which is requesting:

1.   The creation of Laws & Regulations that provide Greater Accountability in relating funding with results obtained in reduction of cancer death and cost

2.   The utilization of a Public, Transparent Scientific Procedure that provides:

   a)   An estimate of the percentage of reduction in cancer deaths and costs the project expects to attain
   b)   The project’s total cost
   c)   An estimate of the time required for the expected results after receiving funding
   d)   A plan to measure results on a sample population
   e)   A comparison of the project with 10 projects claiming highest efficiency and impact in reducing premature cancer deaths and costs

3.   The names of those scientists determined (through scientific arguments) to be the most competent in reducing cancer deaths and costs. A description of the direction cancer research should take and what plan of intervention is needed to accelerate the reduction of cancer deaths and costs.

4.   A list of the projects with the highest potential to reduce premature cancer deaths and costs, and how they were compared in an open, public debate to other projects claiming equivalent results

In order to make the best use of their money, taxpayers and philanthropists need access to a public list of qualified scientists competent in reducing cancer deaths and costs and a list of the projects with the highest potential of achieving this goal.

Do you believe leaders of universities with a cancer department should provide the names of their scientists competent in the scientific aspects of reducing cancer deaths and cost? (These scientists must demonstrate their competence by explaining to the public how their project or claim compares with others and their plan to gradually achieve UICC’s target to significantly reduce cancer deaths and costs by 2020).

See the Abstract 2012WCC-2412 at www.UnitedToEndCancer.org/doc/500.pdf
See the brochure at www.UnitedToEndCancer.org/doc/504.pdf
See the Slides in six languages of the ePoster EP813 at
                                           www.authorstream.com/Presentation/stopcancer-1498548-ep813-english/

Please provide your opinion and forward your requests to: request@UnitedToEndCancer.org

Sign the Petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/stop-preventable-deaths.html