LETTER: Congress, needs to commit to ending cancer

Recently I attended the Cancer Moonshot Summit hosted locally at Kalispell Regional Medical Center. During the summit on June 29, Vice President Biden asked us to personally commit to help end cancer.

I’m supporting loved ones facing this disease, taking care of my own health to help prevent a diagnosis and advocating for cancer patients and their families as an American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network volunteer. I won’t stand idle and watch cancer affect my loved ones.

Let’s stop cancer’s devastating grip on Montanans. This year, about 6,070 residents will be newly diagnosed with cancer and more than 2,000 Montanans will die from it. Consider these statistics as evidence for increased cancer research funding.

If we really want to stop cancer, we need Congress to commit, too.

We have federally funded cancer research to thank for almost every discovery, treatment and cure. To ensure continued progress, Congress must approve increased funding for the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.

I am asking for Congress to complete a $1 billion investment in cancer research over two years. They got us part of the way last year — it’s time to finish the job. —Keri Arensmeyer, Helena