Linda and quilt
first chemo
I know, I’m supposed to be on a long hiatus, but the Kelly
ladies (three generations of them) are sleeping in and I am trying to be quiet. I haven’t even made coffee yet, for fear of disturbing
their well-deserved slumbers. One of
them is an 18-month-old, so sleep is a rare and treasured commodity.
A recent NY Times issue contained an interview with Harold
Varmus, retiring director of the National Institutes of Health, and a past
winner of the Nobel Prize. The title of
the article is The Condition Cancer
Research Is In. Varmus thinks it’s
in pretty good shape, but bemoans recent budget cuts (as, of course, you would
expect him to do.) According to his
calculations we now (2015) have about 25% less funding, in real dollars, than
we did in 2003. He speaks at some length
about the importance of fundamental biological research, which – he says – has shown
the complexity and heterogeneous nature of cancer and thus illustrated the need
for what he calls precision medicine, which
I take to be equivalent to shaping the therapy to the individual cancer .I agree, with reservations. All this is good stuff, if you can do it – and, of course, afford it.
So, my early-morning take on this:
Thanks, Dr. Varmus. I am sure you have been a powerful
weapon in our War on Cancer. Enjoy your
retirement.
It is true that cancer funding is down, in real terms. Cuts should be restored. However, I also think that we could be far
smarter in how we distribute these funds.
Business as usual isn’t working.
See my blog The truth in small
doses, and of course Clifton Leaf’s book of the same title.
And, finally, although we may be making progress against
cancer in some areas, in several which concern me – pancreatic and ovarian – we
are lagging pitifully.
The Kellys are up, and another hot day commences.
No comments:
Post a Comment