The War on Cancer: An Anatomy of Failure, A Blueprint for the Future

The National Cancer Act of 1971 propelled the War on Cancer, mainly by tapping the vast resources of the Federal government to confront the growing cancer challenge. As a result, all cancer initiatives funded by Federal dollars were channeled through a restructured National Cancer Institute and some predicted the conquest of cancer by the nation’s bicentennial. Yet, over the ensuing three decades progress in the clinical setting has been slow, and cancer remains a largely incurable disease.

After reviewing the history of cancer and its impact on the population, Dr. Faguet exposes the antiquated notions that have driven cancer drug development, documents the stagnation in treatment outcomes despite major advances in cancer genomics and growing NCI budgets, and identifies the multiple factors that sustain the status quo. He shows that, contrary to frequent announcements of breakthroughs, our current cancer control model cannot eradicate most cancers and the reasons why. Significantly, this book also delineates a way forward via a shift from the discredited cell-kill approach of the past to an integrated, evidence-driven cancer control paradigm based on prevention, early diagnosis, and pharmacogenomics. The author's views are based on data published in mainstream scientific journals and other reliable references, 432 of which are cited.