Where it all began

Abstract

In addition to lead-authoring an editorial 1 and soliciting an accompanying historiography 2 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the National Cancer Act, Cancer's editor-in-chief, Dr. Suresh Ramalingam, has chosen to republish a classic article, "The New Cancer Initiative," from Cancer's archives. 3 Authored some 50 years ago, it carries an address by Benno C. Schmidt Sr, which immediately presaged President Nixon's signing of the National Cancer Act. In Schmidt's measured, graceful language, the speech explains the process and principles that drove the war on cancer. Schmidt, who Nixon would subsequently appoint to chair the President's Cancer Panel, emphasized a simultaneously ambitious and realistic approach to enhance science and medicine in order to accelerate progress against the disease that Americans feared most while making the case for the authority of the director of what would become the National Cancer Institute. Far from advocating for a move from basic discovery to applied science or for isolating cancer research from other scientific discovery, Schmidt reassured the clinical community and especially the scientific community that the United States would take the long road toward impacting this dread disease.The speech is adroit, eloquent without being wordy, and forward-looking without the slightest hint of jingoism. It, like the National Cancer Act, has worn remarkably well. Schmidt was an attorney, entrepreneur, and industrialist, and he worked well with others of diverse backgrounds, including scientists, philanthropists, and political leaders. He shepherded the efforts of 5 of the original standalone US academic cancer centers, the American Cancer Society, and the National Institutes of Health through a process that set the stage for much of the progress that we have seen over the last 5 decades in the war against cancer.I first obtained this speech 25 years ago, shortly after taking my first academic position at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, 1 of the original 5 cancer centers, in an attempt to better understand the history and context of the National Cancer Act. Like many who have read this speech on several occasions, I appreciate the culture and context that led to the act better each time I do so. I applaud Dr. Ramalingam and Cancer for arranging to share it with the journal's audience once more.