Samuel Broder, MD, reflects on the 30th anniversary of the National Cancer Act. Interviewed by Brian Vastag.

Abstract

THIRTY YEARS AGO, CONFIDENCE IN US science and technology soared. A victory in the space race and two decades of steady economic expansion drove expectations for US achievement ever skyward. Philanthropist Mary Lasker saw an opportunity to turn these resources against the scourge of cancer. With Texas Sen Ralph Yarborough and other proponents, Lasker spearheaded a movement to establish a sweeping national campaign against cancer. Their efforts culminated in the National Cancer Act of 1971, signed into law by President Richard Nixon on December 23. The act greatly augmented the budget and independence of the National Cancer Institute (NCI), a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md. Breaking from precedent, NCI directors became presidential appointees with the authority to propose budgets directly to Congress. With these provisions secured, Nixon declared the “conquest of cancer a national crusade,” spurring widespread expectations for a quick victory. Cancer turned out to be much wilier than anticipated. The overall cancer death rate climbed through the 1970s and 1980s, leading to disappointment in the “failed war,” as some politicians and health policymakers called it. But in 1992, the trend leveled off, and overall cancer death rates began declining in 1994. Gains against some individual cancers have been substantial. Samuel Broder, MD, is in a unique position to reflect on this progress. He joined the NCI in 1972, rising as a top scientist and leading the team that discovered the therapeutic potential of one of the first HIV/AIDS drugs, AZT. He headed the agency from 1988 to 1995. Broder now serves as executive vice president and chief medical officer of Celera Genomics, Rockville, Md.