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Running head: CANCER FUNDING AND RESEARCH DISCREPANCIES

Cancer funding and research discrepancies

Juan Miranda
University of Texas at El Paso

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Today many people are effected by the lack of funding and cancer research. Most of all,
cancer patients are the ones affected. These individuals fight day in and day out in order to see
the light of day again surrounded by loved ones of which are doing all things possible, so they
can help them. The loved ones are also affected due to the fact that most of them are devoting
most of their time and money so that their ill can be helped in any way shape or form. The
reasons most individuals with cancer have a hard time is because some types of cancers dont get
as much funding and research as others, which in turn leads to more suffering. This is caused by
the mass popularity of other cancers of which receive huge amounts of donations; leaving other
cancers in the dark. This uneven treatment has to stop in order to aid in stopping the death count
from rising by cancer and lessen the burden on the ones around the ill.
Funding
When money is provided for cancer there are many forms of funding. The two most
prominent forms are Grants and Donations. When Cancer research is given a grant that money
comes from the government. This form of income from the government is not given to all of
cancer in general. The government picks which it wishes to fund, as far as types of cancer fields.
This can turn out to be negative, such so that news stations are weighing in on the issue saying,
a new report suggests that cancer could soon surpass heart disease as the nations leading killer
unless the government provides more funding for research into the disease, according to Med
Page Today (Fox News, 2013), showing that this issue is serious. This lack of funding causes
discrepancies in funding fields of cancer and research; where one cancer receives more funding
then another causing a lack of research in that field. Making progress of that field slow to finding
a cure and or treatment. The other form of funding is donations, also giving money, but can be
influenced by other forms. Donations are where an individual gives a sum of their money to a

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CANCER FUNDING AND RESEARCH DISCREPANCIES
field they want. In donations an individual can be influenced by many things, a couple of these
are, ill family members with that cancer, or by how the cancer field is displayed and popularized
though mass media.
As far as government funding, the government gives cancer researchers a lot of grants,
but all of that money is not distributed evenly throughout the cancer fields. In this year of 2015
only, many grants have been given to cancer fields, approximately 816 grants totaling
$441,428,104 dollars (American Cancer Society, 2015) (Table 1). All this money is for the good
of cancer research, but it is not fair funding from the government, because many fields such as
Kidney Cancer only received 8 grants totaling $4,320,024, where as a field such as Breast
Cancer received 198 grants totaling $110,303,170, causing a huge discrepancy between two
fields of cancer which both need a cure (American Cancer Society, 2015) (Table 1). Yes there are
237 grants of which are given to cancer in general which total $95,816,632, but that still does not
alleviate the discrepancies of the funding and in not doing so is affecting the less funded fields.
(American Cancer Society, 2015) (Table 1).
Table 1 (American Cancer Society, 2015)
Current Grants by Cancer Type
As of August 1, 2015
Cancer Type
Brain Cancer
Breast Cancer
Cervical Cancer
Colon and Rectal Cancer
Head and Neck Cancer
Kidney Cancer
Leukemia/Leukaemia
Liver Cancer
Lung Cancer
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma
Ovarian Cancer
Pancreatic Cancer
Prostate Cancer

Number of Grants involving Cancer Type**

47
198
19
101
18
8
66
29
97
39
46
34
76

Funded Amount ($)

Specific Amount ($)

27,611,500
110,303,170
8,613,500
56,286,600
11,373,250
4,320,024
36,294,500
15,563,190
51,237,624
22,448,250
26,174,250
19,310,000
44,775,776

18,564,315
83,493,483
3,595,880
32,671,550
5,772,393
1,864,886
23,369,310
8,469,843
29,448,142
13,161,975
15,075,145
9,230,420
28,441,304

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CANCER FUNDING AND RESEARCH DISCREPANCIES
Skin Cancer
Thyroid Cancer
Other Cancer Types
Applies to all cancers
Grand Total
Included in the above projects, which
are listed by cancer site, are projects
that deal with selected areas of cancer
research.
Childhood Cancer
Disparities
Environmental Factors

63
15
204
237
816
Number of Grants**

34,480,750
13,595,000
98,788,466
95,816,632
Funded Amount ($)

35
76
34

17,968,700
65,158,857
18,752,750

When you think of cancer, the common person will think about, pink, donations and
charity events, but not all types of cancers have that attention and many people suffer because of
it. An example of this is breast cancer and how it is always the main one to have events (charity)
and prominent donations due to its publicity on the people. Once a metric has been chosen,
improved funding allocation can be achieved by distributing resources more equitably according
to this metric (Carter, A. R., & Nguyen, C. N. 2012), this statement shows that cancer research
money should be distributed equally and not based on its popularity. Due to this many cancers,
such as kidney cancer fall behind in funding due to it not being well known to the public. If
money is to be distributed evenly, some cancers will get more money than ever before due to
haveing been in the dark before because of being overshadowed by other popular cancers. The
government should make it so that all money donated by individuals should be put towards
cancer in general, in order so that all cancer groups and sub groups receive as much money as the
most payed field, so that not one cancer is superiorly funded then others.
In these cases, people have to use their voice in order to attempt to get the recognition for
their underfunded cancer field. The people need to stand up and tell the heads of funding for
equal distribution of funding and research. The people have the first amendment right for a
reason and should use it in forms of which aid the ill and extend their possibility of finding a
cure. Some people say others should,

20,454,005
11,585,400
47,238,731
88,991,322
441,428,104

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Write a letter to the editor. Editorial pages are often the most widely read
sections of the newspaper. Although letters to the editor are usually in response to
a recent story, letter, or current event, publications often will print general
commentary letters. Share a personal story or anecdote about how cancer research
has helped to improve the quality of life of your patients (Kent, J. 2008)
If they dont fight, the fight of the ill will be void and for no reason.
Research
Money and research go hand in hand. If some fields of cancer are not as funded as well as
others it can cause a lack of capability for researchers to find treatments/ cures. As once stated
kidney cancer is the least funded cancer and due to this their patients are waiting more for
treatment and ultimately for a cure. This does not only affect the patient it affects the family as
how they have to take more money out of their pockets for medicine of which is not sufficiently
funded by government inevitably, causing the patient and potentially their relatives, to pick up
the slack. In a study, the average U.S. family makes $52,000 annually. Cancer drugs can easily
cost a $120,000 a year. Out-of-pocket expenses for the insured can run $25,000 to $30,000
more than half of a typical family's income (Whitehead, 2015), showing that the cost of
medicine is outrageous and unaffordable for cancer patients. Doctors have even said that, "A lot
of my patients cry they're frustrated," says Dr. Ayalew Tefferi, a hematologist at the Mayo
Clinic. "Many of them spend their life savings on cancer drugs and end up being bankrupt"
(Whitehead, 2015), ultimately showing the toll it takes on the patient and their wallet. When you
have a cancer such as breast cancer, yes you are also having to take money out of your pocket to
buy medicine but its not as much of a burden because the government has funded that field
sufficiently/insured you better than others.

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CANCER FUNDING AND RESEARCH DISCREPANCIES
Some organizations spend more on other cancers because they wish/know they can make
money off them. This is proven when Dennis Thompson Jr asked Margaret K. Offermann, MD,
PhD, Funding Research: Why Is the Money Going There? Where he replied,
Whether there's money to be made. Private pharmaceutical and medical
research companies tend to spend research money on more common cancers. That
way, there are more patients to help them recoup their investment. This isn't
necessarily a bad thing, as innovation can lead to big advances. "Sometimes you'll
have two different cancers sharing the same [messed-up] pathway," Offermann
says. "In that case, the commercial entity is more likely to go after the pathway
rather than the specific types of cancer. That makes it more worth their
while.(Thompson, 2010)
This in turn shows how not only are some cancers underfunded but, are in that condition due to
organizations appeal to other, more common cancers, in order to gain as much money as
possible. (Thompson, 2010). That is not the only reason, another reason for more funding in a
specific cancer is,
Whether research into the cancer can provide widespread scientific
rewards. Some of the really rare cancers have ended up providing insights into
things that are relevant to more common cancers," Offermann says, noting that the
retinoblastoma gene the first gene to be identified as a tumor suppressor
was discovered in a rare eye cancer of children. (Thompson, 2010)
Showing that organizations are also more worried on how they can be rewarded, over who needs
treatment and how fast and when.

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CANCER FUNDING AND RESEARCH DISCREPANCIES
Over all this uneven distribution of money affects many people and not only the patient.
This form of funding needs to be halted and revamped so that others that with less likely cancers
get as much funding as the more populated areas, so that they do not suffer more and are evenly
cared for. This is a community problem because it affects the cancer community. This problem is
and will keep on affecting the cancer community until money is evenly distributed. A change
needs to happen, fast for the sake of the ones in need who are fighting day in and day out to see
another day.

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References
American Cancer Society. (2015, August 1). Current grants by cancer type. Retrieved November
5, 2015, from American Cancer Society website:
http://www.cancer.org/research/currentlyfundedcancerresearch/grants-by-cancer-type

Carter, A. R., & Nguyen, C. N. (2012). A comparison of cancer burden and research spending
reveals discrepancies in the distribution of research funding. BMC Public Health, 12(1), 526537. doi:10.1186/1471-2458-12-526

Chan, K. K., Siu, E., Mozessohn, L., & Cheung, M. C. (2013). Publication patterns of cancer
cost-effectiveness studies presented at major conferences. Current Oncology, 20(6), 319-325.
doi:10.3747/co.20.1438

Fox News. (2013, September 18). Lack of government funding could make cancer the top killer
in u.s, report says. Retrieved November 5, 2015, from Fox News website:
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2013/09/18/lack-government-funding-could-make-cancer-topkiller-in-us-report-says.html

Kent, J. (2008). Use your voice to appeal for cancer research funding. ONS Connect, 23(12), 22.
Printz, C. (2013). Is cancer research too conservative?. Cancer (0008543X), 119(9), 1605-1606.
doi:10.1002/cncr.28122

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Shah, K. K., Sussex, J., & Hernandez-Villafuerte, K. (2015). Government and charity funding of
cancer research: public preferences and choices. Health Research Policy & Systems, 13(1), 1-14.
doi:10.1186/s12961-015-0027-6

Thompson, D., Jr. (n.d.). Cancer research: Where the funding goes. Retrieved February 9, 2010,
from everydayhealth website: http://www.everydayhealth.com/cancer/cancer-research-wherefunding-goes.aspx

Whitehead, N. (2015, July 23). Doctors press for action to lower 'unsustainable' prices for cancer
drugs. Retrieved November 5, 2015, from NPR website: http://www.npr.org/sections/healthshots/2015/07/23/425387299/doctors-press-for-action-to-lower-unsustainable-prices-for-cancerdrug