It’s Up to Texas Voters to Extend Life-Saving Cancer Research

TAMEST
TAMEST
Nov 4 · 3 min read

By Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH and Brendan Lee, M.D., Ph.D.

Cancer is a leading cause of death in Texas and the second leading cause of death globally. Thanks to the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT), Texans are taking action and the state is now a leader in fighting cancer with real results in our own backyards. However, the fate of future funding to sustain this work is now in the hands of voters tomorrow.

CPRIT, a state agency created to fund cancer research and prevention programs and services, is making a difference and saving lives. First approved by voters in 2007, passing Texas Proposition 6, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute Bonds Amendment, will allow the legislature to continue its funding.

This vital program has resulted in more than 100 clinical studies and over 13,000 patients enrolled. CPRIT projects have delivered 5.7 million prevention services to Texans from all 254 counties, which has reduced the death rate in the state due to cancer by nearly 10 percent.

In fact, in the Texas Panhandle, real change is happening thanks to CPRIT’s prevention work. The number of mammogram screenings in the area increased by 26 percent since 2009. The region went from having one of the highest rates of late-stage cancer diagnoses in the state (21.2 percent) to an astounding low of 4.5 percent in less than a decade.

As recipients of CPRIT funding and members of TAMEST (The Academy of Medicine, Engineering, and Science of Texas), we’ve seen firsthand its benefit for our state’s people and economy. In San Antonio CPRIT is supporting UT Health San Antonio to develop a free texting service to help people quit smoking. At Baylor College of Medicine, CPRIT is improving treatments for children diagnosed with bone cancer.

CPRIT empowers collaboration. It connects research universities, doctors, scientists, hospitals and companies across the state to form a cancer-fighting powerhouse. Without further support, cancer prevention and research in Texas will lose funding, and with it, thousands of jobs and opportunities for recruiting top talent to our state.

Since CPRIT began, 181 cancer researchers and their labs as well as 11 companies have been recruited to the state. This has translated to hundreds of millions of dollars in new funding coming to Texas from the National Institutes of Health, other federal agencies and private investment.

One CPRIT grant helped recruit native Texan Jim Allison to return to the state to develop new therapies that activate the immune system to fight cancer. This innovative strategy is already curing patients with advanced melanoma. Last year, Dr. Allison was recognized with a Nobel Prize for his work.

Without support from our citizens and government, the ‘Texas Miracle’ of scientific research wouldn’t be making our state a better place to live and work. However, our work is far from complete.

For every person we have saved, there are still more at risk. Last year alone, 121,463 new cases of cancer were diagnosed in our state. It is now up to Texas voters on November 5 to vote whether CPRIT funding and research will continue.

This op-ed does not reflect the opinions of the authors’ institutions.

Authors:

Dr. Amelie Ramirez, DrPH (UT Health San Antonio) is board president of TAMEST (The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas)

Dr. Brendan Lee, MD (Baylor College of Medicine) is treasurer of TAMEST

Written by

TAMEST

The Academy of Medicine, Engineering & Science of Texas (TAMEST). Securing Texas’ Future as a National Research Leader.

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