The White House and the American Cancer Society will convene leaders in academic oncology and across public and private arenas to address challenges in breast and cervical cancers on Oct. 24 in Washington, D.C.
The roundtables—the ACS National Breast Cancer Roundtable and the ACS National Cervical Cancer Roundtable—are designed to “speed up this next phase in ending breast cancer as we know it,” Jill Biden said in an Oct. 15 visit to Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Biden’s retinue on the visit included NCI Director Monica Bertagnolli.
“We can give patients and their families the care and the future they deserve,” Biden said at the Sylvester event marking the Breast Cancer Awareness Month. “That idea of community and collaboration is at the heart of the Cancer Moonshot. We are bringing together scientists, business leaders, and advocates from across the country and around the world.”
In particular, the roundtables will focus on significant disparities in screening and survival.
“Our recent Breast Cancer Facts & Figures paper showed a 40% difference in survival in Black women versus white women, even when matched for stage,” Arif Kamal, chief patient officer at the American Cancer Society, said to The Cancer Letter.
“We had previously launched the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable in 1997 in the White House. We requested it for high visibility to important work. The administration is kind to say ‘Yes’ almost immediately to our requests,” Kamal said.
“The first lady will give remarks and we’re bringing together the steering committee for both roundtables to meet all day in D.C., to really create the agenda for the short-term and medium-term goals for each of the roundtables, as well as celebrate together in the White House the launch of these two roundtables and what they’re going to accomplish.”
On the Oct. 15 tour of Sylvester, Biden and Bertagnolli were accompanied by Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz (D-FL). Bertagnolli started her first day on the job in Bethesda earlier this month (The Cancer Letter, Oct. 3, 2022).
“This is an amazing place,” Bertagnolli said at the event in Plantation, FL. “It is all about the people, and you have an amazing group of people who really want to end cancer as we know it for everyone. If we work together, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
Sylvester is well-positioned to accelerate scientific discovery, said Stephen Nimer, director of Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center and executive dean of research at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami. The institution is vying for the comprehensive designation.
“I think it’s quite a validation of where we’ve come so far if the first lady came to visit us,” Nimer said at the Oct. 15 event. “As an NCI-designated cancer center, it’s gonna help us in our pursuit of even greater opportunities and more success.”
Racial minorities make up a significant portion of the population in South Florida—up to 43% Hispanic and 24% Black—part of Sylvester’s catchment area.
“Our faculty, staff and patients reflect the diversity of our region,” Nimer said. “Furthermore, the patients we enroll in clinical trials at Sylvester also reflect our community. We are able to provide novel therapies for our cancer patients, and the research teams we assemble are conducting research to better understand specific risk factors for Hispanic and Black communities and others where health inequities may exist.”
Sylvester is involved in the reignited Moonshot’s plan to decrease cancer-related mortality by 50% within 25 years and to improve the lives of cancer survivors (The Cancer Letter, Feb. 4, 2022).
It is all about the people, and you have an amazing group of people who really want to end cancer as we know it for everyone. If we work together, there’s nothing we can’t do.
Monica Bertagnolli
“From prevention and screening to treatment and survivorship, Sylvester’s team of physicians, nurses, and scientists are serving our diverse community, tailoring our research and care, to best serve our patients,” Alejandra Perez, medical director of the Braman Family Breast Cancer Institute at Sylvester, said at the Oct. 15 event.
Wasserman Schultz, who was diagnosed with breast cancer at age 41 in December 2007, introduced the Breast Cancer Education and Awareness Requires Learning Young Act in 2009 and the Protecting Access to Lifesaving Screenings Act in 2021 to provide women with access to mammograms not covered by insurance—starting at age 40.
She said she is preparing to introduce legislation that aims to provide support to patients from diagnosis through survivorship.
“I know that we can finally turn the tables on this deadly disease,” Wasserman Schultz said at the event. “As a breast cancer survivor, it just fills my heart how devoted Sylvester is to survivorship, in addition to prevention, detection, and eliminating cancer.”
Biden’s Oct. 15 remarks at Sylvester follow:
Just last week, the president and I visited Fort Myers to survey the damage of Hurricane Ian and meet with families. The road to recovery will be long, but the spirit and resilience of this state will persevere. And we will be by your side, every step of the way.
It is really special to be back in Florida today.
Congresswoman, your courage through your own cancer journey is an inspiration to so many women. And now, you are helping other survivors live fuller, healthier lives.
And thank you to Dr. Bertagnolli, the new director of the National Cancer Institute for joining us today, and to the Sylvester Cancer Center for your very kind welcome.
The author bell hooks once wrote: “Rarely, if ever, are any of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.”
None of us can beat cancer alone. We survive with the love of our families, the dedication of our doctors and nurses, and the support of communities, like this one, that are coming together to fight this disease.
None of us can beat cancer alone. We survive with the love of our families, the dedication of our doctors and nurses, and the support of communities, like this one, that are coming together to fight this disease.
Jill Biden
Yes, cancer has the power to destroy. But it can connect us as well. It forces us to reach out—for answers, for help, for healing. It tears away the things that divide us. It inspires us to come together and find the love and support on which our future can be built.
For Joe and me—for Debbie—this is the mission of our lives. And we are ready and proud to work beside you as you fight cancer and as you survive it. Because healing is an act of communion—and none of us are alone.
Together, we can give patients and their families the care and the future they deserve. That idea of community and collaboration is at the heart of the Cancer Moonshot. We are bringing together scientists, business leaders, and advocates from across the country and around the world.
Our goal is to transform cancer care and save lives. We’re doing that by making cutting edge treatments available to patients faster. We’re investing in telehealth so you can receive world-class care from your own home.
And at the end of the month, the White House will partner with the American Cancer Society to convene some of the most influential cancer experts and leaders from across industries. Together, we will speed up this next phase in ending breast cancer as we know it.
Most of all, this work is about putting patients and their loved ones at the center of their own cancer journey. Because from personalized outreach reminding people to get screened, to clinic staff who help families navigate complex and confusing schedules and treatments, to programs that help people live fuller lives after they’re cancer free, we are finding new ways to prevent, treat, and survive cancer.
No, we can’t beat cancer alone—in fact, we all have a part to play in this fight.
As we approach National Mammography Day next week, I want to remind you that “doing our part” starts with getting the screenings we need and talking to our loved ones about getting theirs as well.
I know you’re busy. Especially the moms and nanas out there. When you are busy taking care of everyone else, it can be hard to take care of you. But mammograms can save your life—and nothing on your to-do list is more important than that!
So, talk to your doctor. Make a calendar appointment right now to remind yourself! Don’t wait! We owe it to ourselves and the people who love us to take care of our health.
