glioblastoma - source: Wik

(Best Syndication News) Despite the fact that a war on cancer has been waged for 40 years, nearly 8 million people died of the disease last year. A minor portion of the U.S. government budget, just $4 billion a year, is allocated for research towards a cure for cancer.

There has always been a tug-of-war between special interests. In 1992 President George Bush Sr. criticized the senate proposal to use $210 million in military funds for breast cancer research. Back then the Washington Post reported that the Senate wanted to add $185 million to the $25 million that the House approved for breast cancer research.

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Besides health care reform, Senator Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts has been a strong advocate of cancer research. Despite strong proponents as Kennedy, little has changed since 1971 when Nixon declared the war on cancer.

Kennedy was diagnosed with glioblastoma about 15 months ago. The survival rate for that cancer is just a little over a year (about 15 months). The survival rate for the cancer if untreated is just 4 1/2 months. Even with radiation and chemotherapy, the prognosis is not usually good.

Despite decades of research since 1971, very little is understood about glioblastoma. The cost of treating the disease is estimated to be in the range of $100,000 to $500,000.

The cost of the treatment is not a problem, if you have insurance. But if you don’t have insurance or you are underinsured, it may be a problem. Dr. Henry Friedman, co-director of the brain tumor center at Duke, told the New York Times that if a patient is underinsured they work with their home physician to give them their expertise.

Kennedy told Newsweek that the cost of the treatment was never a problem. A team of specialists met after the diagnosis and agreed that radiation was the best course of treatment. Some believed surgery was needed too. That has been the standard treatment since 1978. Not much has changed. Without the radiation treatment the survival rate is just 14 weeks (on average).

Typically drug companies look to treat diseases, not cure them. Very little money is spent on a cure for cancer, and this was one of the reasons a “war” on cancer was declared. Like wars in the Middle East or Vietnam, the government was going to spend money to fight cancer. But when you compare the hundreds of billions spent on the two wars being waged right now, $4 billion is a drop in the bucket.

Some targeted treatments have been developed. During the 70s the whole brain was radiated. That has changed. This is hope in preventing some cancers with vaccinations. But if you get a cancer like glioblastoma, there is little hope for a cure.

By Jeffrey Workman
Health Writer