The funding environment has never been bleaker and this restraint is coming at a time when science is at its most exciting, said Jimmy Mansour, chairman of the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.
Mansour was the keynote speaker at the Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute annual meeting in Austin.
The National Cancer Institute is entering its fifth year of no budget growth. Its annual $4.8 billion appropriation is essentially flat compared to 2007, requiring the group to initiate 3 percent reductions throughout the organization.
With voter approval for funding, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas became the third-largest investor in cancer research behind the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society, Mansour said.
Texas’ Cancer Prevention and Research Institute will receive $3 billion over 10 years to invest in cancer research and investment. For those seeking grants, a 50 percent match is required.
Funding for the institute will be appropriated during the 81st legislative session set to begin in a couple of weeks and it’s anticipated the institute will be fully functional by September.
The purpose of the institute, Mansour said, is to create innovation in cancer research and breakthroughs in prevention; and to attract, create and expand research capabilities in both the public and private sector.
“This comes at a timely period in our quest to cure cancer,” he said. “In 2007, the overall costs due to cancer exceeded $219 billion. In Texas alone, the numbers are compelling. The CDC estimates more than 96,000 diagnoses and nearly 35,000 deaths in Texas due to cancer this year.”
One out of two Texas men will be diagnosed with cancer in his lifetime and cancer is the leading cause of death of Texas women between the ages of 35 and 74. Cancer is the leading cause of disease-related deaths of Texas children between the ages of 1 and 14.
The institute’s goal is to create and fund an effective cancer prevention plan that will decrease cancer-related deaths in Texas, and invest in research initiatives that have sound scientific support, which will provide cures and treatments for cancer, Mansour said.
“In a day where there is no cure for cancer, our best bet is to come up with solid prevention measures,” he said.
Up to $30 million a year will be used for cancer prevention grants.
“It is well recognized that the best and most effective way to beat cancer is to catch it early . . . screening is the best tool we have,” Mansour said. “Mammograms, pap smears, colonoscopies and prostate exams are proven vehicles for critical early detection and diagnoses.”
When diagnosed early, the breast cancer survival rate is 98 percent, colon survival rate is 90 percent, ovarian cancer survival rate is 92 percent, prostate cancer survival rate is 99 percent and cervical cancer survival rate is 92 percent.
The survival for those with metastatic or late stage cancers is grim.
“My hope is that 10 years of prudent investments and decisions and the selected recruitment of scientific talent to Texas will have resulted in an impressive bioscience infrastructure in our state,” Mansour said.
A search for the executive director of the institute has been ongoing for the past few months and it is expected a single candidate will be identified by the end of this month.
Right now, the oversight committee is working on cleaning up and strengthening the institute’s ethics policy, including adopting conflict of interest rules based on National Institute of Health standards.
Decisions on awarding grants will be based on solid scientific evidence, graded by independent peer review panels, consisting of nationally recognized experts in each area of science.
The peer review panel for the grant evaluation process would require six nationally recognized experts and two cancer advocates with assurance no panel member is affiliated with a Texas-based research institution or company.
The expectation is that the institute should benefit from patents or other intellectual properties derived through the grants made by the institute, Mansour said.
“At the end of the day, what we’re all about is the patient and cures and quality of life,” said Tom Kowalski, president of the Texas Healthcare and Bioscience Institute. “All of us have been affected by diseases and our industry is poised to find those cures. Texas is poised to be a major player in those cures.”
