If you walked into your local Long John Silver’s restaurant on Sept. 19 and attempted to “talk like a pirate,” the person behind the counter would give you a free deep-fried Twinkie and prompt you to count out a few coins for the American Cancer Society.
In December 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act and declared a “War on Cancer.” In the past 54 years, the U.S. has invested $180 billion nominally, or approximately $322 billion when adjusted for inflation, in cancer research. This investment has paid dividends with more than 100 anticancer drugs brought to market in half a century—virtually all traceable to National Cancer Institute funding.
