War on cancer

The "war on cancer" is the effort to find a cure for cancer by increased research to improve the understanding of cancer biology and the development of more effective cancer treatments, such as targeted drug therapies. The aim of such efforts is to eradicate cancer as a major cause of death. The signing of the National Cancer Act of 1971 by United States president Richard Nixon is generally viewed as the beginning of this effort, though it was not described as a "war" in the legislation itself.^[1]

Despite significant progress in the treatment of certain forms of cancer (such as childhood leukemia^[2]), cancer in general remains a major cause of death half a century after this war on cancer began,^[3] leading to a perceived lack of progress^[4][5][6] and to new legislation aimed at augmenting the original National Cancer Act of 1971.^[7]

New research directions, in part based on the results of the Human Genome Project, hold promise for a better understanding of the genetic factors underlying cancer, and the development of new diagnostics, therapies, preventive measures, and early detection ability. However, targeting cancer proteins can be difficult, as a protein can be undruggable.