Biden promotes “Cancer Moonshot”

In a speech on Monday in Boston, President Joe Biden recalled how former President John F. Kennedy asked Americans to rally behind the race to the moon. Biden renewed his calls for a new mission: “To end cancer as we know it, and even cure cancers once and for all.” Brain cancer claimed the life of Biden’s son Beau in 2015. After that, Congress dedicated new funding to cancer research, and President Barack Obama designated Biden, then vice president, to direct the funds.

What will Biden’s plan do? Biden spoke of a new federally backed study that seeks evidence for using blood tests to screen against multiple cancers. That could be a major tool for early detection. He allocated funds in February to an interagency task force with a goal to cut deaths from cancer by at least 50 percent in the next 25 years.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Julie Borg’s report in Beginnings about a possible blood test for cancer.