Bill passed by Congress could aid cancer center

A federal measure known as the 21st Century Cures Act that could boost grant funding by millions of dollars per year for the University of Hawaii Cancer Center has won approval from Congress, and President Barack Obama is expected to quickly sign it into law.

The bill was approved by the Senate on Wednesday, and appropriates about $1.8 billion for the “Cancer Moonshot” initiative designed to accelerate cancer research. That initiative was announced by Obama in January and is being led by Vice President Joe Biden.

The goal of the Cancer Moonshot initiative is to double the rate of cancer prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care during the next five years.

Dr. Randall Holcombe, director of the UH Cancer Center, said the bill provides $4.8 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health over the next seven years, including the new money for cancer research.

Much of that cancer research funding is focused on “precision medicine,” meaning a strategy that seeks to identify which specific cancer treatment is most effective for a specific individual with a specific cancer, Holcombe said. That contrasts with more traditional generalized treatments such as regular chemotherapy.

Holcombe said the UH Cancer Center is positioned to benefit from that emphasis on precision medicine because the center has research programs specifically focused on the diversity of the Hawaii population.

“We are already doing research to try to understand why particular racial and ethnic groups may be more predisposed to cancer or may have different response to therapy and (different) outcomes when they do develop a cancer,” Holcombe said. “I think we have the type of high-level and top-notch researchers here that can be competitive for those sorts of funding.”

Holcombe also expects some of the new funding will be directed to centers with National Cancer Institute designation, and UH is one of 69 research facilities in the U.S. that have that status.

In all, the cancer center attracts about $25 million a year in grant funding, and Holcombe said he hopes the facility can increase that by several million dollars a year in funds distributed under the 21st Century Cures Act. Most if not all of the new cancer research funding likely will be distributed through competitive grant awards, he said.

U.S. Sens. Mazie Hirono and Brian Schatz both voted in favor of the measure.