I’m honored to have Merck Chairman and CEO Ken Frazier contribute his voice to the blog. Ken is a visionary leader who shares ACS CAN’s unshakable commitment to making cancer a national priority. Merck generously sponsored our Lights of Hope event during the 2016 Leadership Summit and Lobby Day, and his presence contributed to that special evening.
In the last 10 years, the medical community’s understanding of cancer types – how they behave and how to treat them – has taken a quantum leap over what we knew 50 years ago. Those advances have come in no small part thanks to patients and their caregivers shining a light on what is working and what still must be improved.
Cancer surgery has gotten more precise with fewer complications. Advances in technology have made it possible to tailor radiation to a patient’s tumor type, size, and location, and to minimize side effects.
We have more drugs to treat cancer than ever before – most approved in the last decade.
And there are more on the horizon: across the research community we have more than 800 medicines and vaccines in development to treat and prevent cancer, some of which represent entirely new approaches.
It takes the patient who is willing to try a new procedure, or to diligently engage in a clinical trial for a new therapy, to advance the science. It takes the caregiver to constructively question if treatments can be made easier or less burdensome for their loved ones. It takes patients and caregivers to keep pushing for more action and to keep challenging the ways in which we deliver care. And collectively, it takes patient activism and engagement to shape policies that promote cancer research and expand access.
That passion and perseverance is what drives all of us – scientists, legislators, doctors, nurses, and caregivers – to push the boundaries of what we know about this ruthless disease and shed new light on how we can defeat it. At Merck, it is the motivating force behind our relentless quest for cures.
I was proud to stand with many of these passionate and engaged patients, survivors, and caregivers recently at ACS CAN’s Lights of Hope Ceremony in front of the Capitol reflecting pool, awash with the illumination of more than 24,000 lights. Each light represented the story of someone who has faced a cancer diagnosis – shining examples of the work that is yet to be done.
As the leader of a company engaged in science-based efforts in this fight, Merck is proud to team up with ACS CAN to support important initiatives like Vice President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot initiative that bring hope to more than 15 million survivors and the 1.7 million people expected to be newly diagnosed with cancer in America this year.
Passionate advocates and the dedication of determined leaders will accelerate our ability to end the scourge of cancer. There is a light at the end of the tunnel – and it shines brighter every day.
Mariah Forster Olson, an ACS CAN Ambassador Constituent Team Lead (ACT Lead), traveled to Washington, D.C. this week to share her story as a childhood cancer survivor and to advocate on behalf of other patients and survivors during the 2019 Childhood Cancer Action Days.