"Screw Cancer Kids" Says US Gov't

I'm used to being outraged. I've made a career of it. As a 30-year pediatric brain cancer survivor, you think you've seen it all until...

The National Cancer Institute just pulled funding from the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium. The federal government decided to cut off the only coordinated research program in this country focused on saving kids with brain cancer.

No explanation. No rationale. Just a shrug. WTAF?!

Brain cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in children. Survival rates for the deadliest forms like DIPG have barely budged in decades. Only 4% of the federal cancer research budget goes to pediatric cancers. Four. And now the tiny sliver dedicated to brain cancer trials gets axed?

Who does this? Like, seriously — WHO?

The government will say they want to "broaden" oncology research. Translation: kids lose, so adults can (maybe) win. Industry will keep investing in drugs for older, insured populations because Wall Street rewards revenue, not survival.

Meanwhile, parents will keep begging on GoFundMe to pay for clinical trials or experimental care that should have been standard years ago.

Do not look away. Do not normalize this cruelty. When leaders make budget choices like this, they reveal exactly how much a child's life is worth to them.

I will not pass judgment on who you supported at the ballot box, but I pray to God you did not vote for this. Behind any veiled political histronics often lie devastating downstream consequences.,

I am at a loss for words. I am embarrased for our country.

If only there were a way to turn outrage into power. If only millions of cancer patients and families stopped screaming into the void and started voting like our lives depend on it. Isn't it time the cancer community did more than boo from the cheap seats?

Thirty-five million Americans carry this scar. That's ten percent of the country. If we organized, if we stopped letting politicians treat us as props for photo-ops and actually forced their hand, none of this would be acceptable. It's time to stop begging.

It's time to organize.

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SOURCE ➡️ https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/nci-axes-funding-pediatric-brain-cancer-trial-consortium-shifts-focus-broader-oncology