In a brilliant commentary in the December 16-22, 2006 issue of New Scientist, Dr. Ralph Moss, director of the online information service CancerDecisions.com, provides powerful evidence that the war on cancer is failing miserably despite the tens of billions of dollars spent over the past 35 years.

He writes that in 1971, Congress passed the National Cancer Act assuring the nation that cancer would be cured by 1976. Guess what?  We’ve had the same success here as we are having in Iraq.  In other words, we’ve failed.

Here are a couple of major points Dr. Moss makes:

• The number of people diagnosed with cancer is roughly double from 1971.
• Because of our improved diagnostic techniques, cancers are being caught earlier which is great but early detection has been known as a way to cure cancer for over 100 years so no real improvements have occurred.
• Statistically, there have been games being played as if someone with late-stage cancer dies of pneumonia, that is what is listed as the cause of death and not cancer.
• Males with elevated PSAs are being diagnosed with prostate cancer even if they may not have cancer. So the more people who are diagnosed without dying, the better the data looks
• In 2002 cancer deaths in the U.S. numbered 557,272.  In 2003, it dropped to 556, 902, a decline of 370. As Dr. Moss says, “if progress continues at this rate, cancer deaths in the U.S. should be entirely eliminated by the year 3508, a little more than 1500 years.
• The autopsy rate has declined from 45 percent several decades ago to 11 percent today so it is likely cancer mortality is vastly underestimated.

Bottom line is, we need a new approach to fighting the war against cancer.  The pathway we have taken is just not working. Yes, early detection is getting vastly better but once diagnosed with later stage cancers, all that money has really accomplished very little.