President Donald Trump is close to delivering on one of former President Joe Biden's biggest broken promises.
Biden pledged to "end cancer as we know it." But he ultimately enacted policies that are snuffing out cancer research projects.
His signature legislative accomplishment, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, imposed sweeping price controls on new medicines that predictably deter investment in cancer research. Since the IRA's passage, companies have already been forced to discontinue 26 drugs and shutter over 50 research programs.
The IRA's pricing provisions hit certain drugs, including many cancer medicines, harder than others. The law allows price controls on so-called "small-molecule" drugs — which are often uniquely effective at treating cancer — to take effect just nine years after a drug enters the market, while other drugs receive a 13-year reprieve. That disparity, commonly referred to as the "pill penalty," has incentivized companies to shift investment away from small-molecule cancer drugs and toward other drug types.
This shift has been especially devastating for seniors.
Age is the single biggest factor in determining an individual's cancer risk. About half of the roughly 2 million Americans who will be diagnosed with cancer this year will be above the age of 67. By 2030, about 70% of cancer cases are projected to occur in people 65 and older.
Fortunately, Biden's policies haven't extinguished hope entirely — because President Trump has the opportunity to support a paradigm shift for cancer.
Trump's contributions to cancer treatment trace back to an unexpected source: Operation Warp Speed, the massive collaboration between the government and private sector that the President initiated during his first term to accelerate COVID-19 vaccine development.
The initiative succeeded beyond anyone's expectations, delivering vaccines years ahead of schedule, saving millions of lives globally, and helping reopen the American economy. But its legacy didn't end there. As new research shows, Operation Warp Speed is still bearing fruit today.
A brand-new study from MD Anderson Cancer Center and the University of Florida found that mRNA-based COVID vaccines dramatically improved outcomes for skin cancer patients. Patients who received the COVID vaccine within 100 days of starting treatment experienced stronger responses to their cancer and had nearly double the median survival time.
Scientists are now wondering whether this could pave the way for a universal vaccine for cancer.
It's not that far-fetched. mRNA vaccines have already shown tremendous promise as a cancer treatment. In a recent trial, scientists used personalized mRNA-based vaccines to help patients better overcome pancreatic cancer, one of the disease's deadliest forms. Researchers are also testing the potential of mRNA vaccines to treat lung, breast, brain, and skin cancers.
President Trump has the opportunity to deliver more for patients than his predecessor did. His success and the enduring legacy of Operation Warp Speed demonstrate what's possible when policymakers bolster incentives for private-sector innovation rather than penalizing it.
If the president continues to champion research and resist misguided efforts to end mRNA vaccine development — including efforts from his own HHS Secretary — it will pay dividends in our national fight against cancer. Millions of patients, particularly older Americans, will benefit from cures made possible by the innovation Trump set in motion.
President Trump's first term gave the world the tools to defeat a once-in-a-century pandemic. His second is laying the groundwork for something even greater — a future where all cancers are curable.
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