The Precision Medicine Initiative Announced by Obama Following the Cancer-Related Death of United States Vice President Joe Biden’s Son!

The son of United States Vice President Joe Biden, currently in the news for his visit to our country, died of brain cancer last May at the age of 46. This may be an event that will affect the whole world in many respects. Of course, it affected his family most; at the time, Joe Biden needed to decide whether to run for the United States presidency, but he experienced profound grief and, in the words of his wife Jill Biden, “they could not do it.”

The cancer-related death of the United States vice president’s son paved the way for an important development in this field. On January 12, United States President Obama The Precision Medicine Initiative announced a movement they called by this name. Obama explained that they would undertake nationwide initiatives in many fields, including health, science and technology, for cancer treatment, expressing this as “We will make America the country that definitively cures cancer.” He also announced that Vice President Joe Biden would lead these initiatives.

However, Obama’s speech needed to be understood and interpreted correctly. Like us, many groups involved in cancer treatment and research also interpreted this speech and emphasized the progress made in the cancer field so far. Following the president’s speech, major American cancer organizations stressed that cancer research was advancing very rapidly, enabling them to save patients’ lives and offer hope even in advanced cancer.

Important developments such as targeted and personalized smart drugs, immunotherapies, diagnostic methods performed with advanced technological devices, and regional treatments are becoming new treatments for cancer patients.

The effort to secure more resources for cancer research is certainly admirable. However, rather than aiming to cure cancer, more realistic goals are to bring cancer development under control through public health measures such as reducing smoking and obesity, and by improving existing cancer treatments. Many experts share the view that cancer incidence can be reduced more effectively in this way.

On examination, almost half of cancers are seen to develop in connection with lifestyle (such as smoking, alcohol use and obesity). Therefore, directing financial resources to public health initiatives could be a greater breakthrough.

On the other hand, following the president’s speech, some people stated that hope is importantand expressed their need for leaders who offer hope. Experts have commented that they believe this could change the face of cancer and that they therefore support his speech. It was also emphasized that the many years of effort devoted to cancer research, the options offered for cancer prevention, and the successful results achieved in both adults and children with advanced treatments for many cancer types deserve praise.

The expression President Obama used in his speech, complete recovery (cure) should be used more cautiously in cancer treatment. For now, the only way to cure cancer completely is to detect the disease at an early stage and eliminate it surgically. In addition, it can take approximately 15 years for a genetic abnormality to emerge as cancer; a better understanding of this process may create new opportunities to stop cancer during its development.

As our knowledge of genetics and the immune system increases, we have begun making substantial progress in targeted and immune treatments. However, the drugs used are very expensive. This issue has been raised repeatedly in many articles. More reasonable ways must be found for patients to obtain these drugs.

United States government officials have stated that the aim of this project is to understand cancer better by collecting information from “real life” rather than data obtained from research, and using computer analysis, namely bioinformatics to achieve this understanding. “We will ensure that the efforts made over many years to understand the inner workings of cancer are recognized much faster. We will also better understand which treatment will work for each patient and identify areas where additional research is needed and could have a major impact.”

United States Vice President Biden shared some details on his personal website about the new cancer initiatives projectand its plans. “The goal of this project is simple: To double the rate of progress… To achieve 10 years of progress in 5 years…”

Biden, who met with many cancer researchers, cancer doctors and philanthropists in the cancer field from around the world, emphasized that the parties needed to communicate more with one another.

United States Vice President Biden states: “There are developed fields in research and treatment such as immunotherapy, genomics and combination treatments. These could be revolutionary. However, science, data and research results are trapped in silos. This prevents rapid progress and reaching more patients.” He also explains that they can bring an end to cancer by breaking down these silos and bringing together everyone fighting cancer to work together and exchange information, and that he will increase both private and public funding for cancer research.

United States Vice President Biden emphasizes on his website that the federal government will support cancer research, incentive measures and private-sector coordination by providing funding.

Some scientific circles have stated that they believe this new initiative has incredible potential beyond merely being a political speech.

Recently, we have been hearing more frequent claims that a cure for cancer has been found, but is being hidden for the interests of major states or pharmaceutical companies and similar assertions. Patients and relatives who are not experts in the subject question why a treatment for cancer has not been found despite all scientific and technological developments. Although there are many reasons why people support and spread this completely false claim, the most important is a lack of knowledge. First of all, cancer is not a single disease; it is a group consisting of almost more than 100 diseases. If you also take the stages of each cancer type into account, this figure multiplies. The story of the son of the vice president of the world’s most powerful country, the United States, may contribute above all to greater awareness of cancer. As a father who has lost his son, I find Joe Biden’s speeches and efforts very heartfelt.

In one of our previous articles, we discussed Precision medicine in detail; to read that article, click here.