Voices of the Community

“Millions of current and future cancer patients are relying on us all to change the face of cancer on their behalf. We should ask no less of ourselves at this critical juncture. We are now maximizing the impact of fundamental discoveries made over the past 40 years by seizing on the unprecedented opportunities to translate these discoveries into improved patient care. Working together, we will turn the tide on cancer.” Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), CEO, American Association for Cancer Research

“The personalized medicine revolution will require revolutionary changes in how we care for cancer patients.” J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, M.D., MACP, Deputy Chief Medical Officer, American Cancer Society

"Patient decisions about treatment should be informed by information on medical benefits, side effects and cost. ASCO is developing resources for clinicians to support discussions with their patients to provide information and consider these factors. We are working to develop a value framework, which will be a physician-facilitated tool that doctors can use with their patients to help make decisions about cancer care. The development of this framework involves inviting and seriously considering input from a wide range of stakeholders in the oncology community. ASCO also continues to support the need to incentivize biomedical innovation. Our goal is to ensure both continued innovation and access to quality care for all our patients." Richard L. Schilsky, M.D., FACP, FASCO, Chief Medical Officer, American Society of Clinical Oncology

“One of the benefits of personalized medicine is the ability of physicians to more quickly identify the most effective and tolerable treatments for cancer patients. In doing so, a personalized medicine with a companion diagnostic brings efficiency to healthcare delivery by avoiding the therapies for which a patient will not respond, and generates cost containment for the healthcare system as resources are allocated more effectively." Stephen L. Eck, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President, Global Head of Oncology Medical Sciences, Astellas Pharma Global Development

“Understanding and addressing the underlying mechanisms of each specific form of cancer will allow us to have confidence that prescribing a given medicine will benefit a given patient. But we will not be successful until every patient who can benefit from a medicine does benefit.” Briggs W. Morrison M.D., Executive Vice President of Global Medicines Development and Chief Medical Officer, AstraZeneca

“At this time of unprecedented progress in identifying new cancer therapies, we need to ensure equal progress in empowering patients to be full partners with clinicians and researchers. Patient-centric treatment must become the standard of care.” Patricia J. Goldsmith, CEO, CancerCare

"We must understand the value of continuous innovation. And we need a holistic understanding of what constitutes a treatment’s value: the social, emotional, scientific and financial effects that it has on individuals, the cancer community, and our economy. As we make progress against cancer through continuous innovation, it is important to appreciate the often small steps required. But despite a large increase in cancer survivorship over the last 40 years, we cannot become complacent. We must stand united in the fight against this common enemy, trying to do what’s right for the patient. We can only accomplish this by building a joint network of diverse stakeholders focused on shared rather than individual interests, with the shared interests centered on patient needs." Newton F. Crenshaw, Vice President, North American Oncology Commercial Operations, Global Business Development and Advocacy, Eli Lilly and Company

“Once we clarify what value is and agree upon it across the board, then we can look at how to generate outcomes data that are meaningful to patients.” Marcia Kean, M.B.A., Chairman, Feinstein Kean Healthcare

“We are part of an amazing time of discovery and progress, as breakthroughs in immunotherapy and personalized medicine revolutionize the way we treat melanoma. But there is more work to be done before all patients can benefit from these advances in cancer treatment.” Wendy K.D. Selig, President and CEO, Melanoma Research Alliance

“It is important to remember that bioinformatics and treatment decision support tools are meant to supplement the work of a patient’s medical teams, not replace it. Oncologists and pathologists remain an extremely important piece of the puzzle. By taking this type of bioinformatics decision-support approach, caregivers can make informed therapeutic decisions based on their molecular knowledge of a disease, increasing the potential for improving treatment outcomes.” Lloyd Everson, M.D., CEO, MolecularHealth, Inc.

“Policies are needed that support the development of companion diagnostics, because the most expensive therapy is the one that doesn’t work.” Edward Abrahams, Ph.D., President, Personalized Medicine Coalition

“Higher quality, lower cost products are delivered in every other sector of the economy, except healthcare. It’s an artificial market. And the reason is because we have no way, as providers of those services and products, to have our customer respond to and reward innovation and efficiency.” John J. Castellani, President and CEO, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America