Cancer Progress in Jeopardy: Stories From the Front Lines

ASCO is exploring what is happening on the front lines in the laboratory and the clinic due to the shrinking federal funding for cancer research and clinical trials with a series of stories about oncologists. The series is posted on ASCO.org (www.asco.org/nihfunding).

In the first article, Robert Clark, PhD, DSc, Dean for Research at Georgetown University Medical Center and Co-Director of the Breast Cancer Program at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington, DC, discusses his concerns about the future of research in the United States and shares how sequestration and budget cuts have affected his work, even necessitating a reduction in staff and a narrowing of research.

In the second article in the series, Monica M. Bertagnolli, MD, Group Chair of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology, outlines the direct impact that declines in federal funding have had on new clinical trial activation, patient enrollment, and resulting scientific publications. To read the article, please go to www.asco.org/nihfunding. ■