The evolution of cancer research

The modern War against Cancer began in the United States in 1970 with the publication of the Yarborough Report, which set forth recommendations and delineated the "means and measures necessary to facilitate success in the treatment, cure and elimination of cancer--at the earliest possible date." If the architects of the Report had known more about the history of the conquest of diseases, we might by now have made a greater impact on the death rate from cancer. As many people have pointed out, the exercise was not that of mobilizing a vast amount of money and resources in order to apply an existing technology to a very limited goal--some special bombs for one or two airplanes and the support for a few astronauts. Quite the opposite, the problem required the development of a level of understanding and a technological base which would allow solutions to the cancer problem that are so inexpensive that they can be offered to 200 million people.