The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network held a briefing on Capitol Hill last week to highlight the findings of the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts & Figures report released earlier this year.
Dr. Otis Brawley, the chief medical and scientific officer at the American Cancer Society, spoke at the briefing, along with ACS CAN President Chris Hansen.
The briefing, attended by members of Congress and their congressional staff, highlighted the progress that has been made in the fight against cancer.
Dr. Brawley said, “We have the ability to fight cancer much better than we did in the 1980’s or 1990’s.” 
In part because of reductions in smoking and improvements in early detection and treatment, the number of people dying from cancer each year has decreased.
In 1991, 215 people out of every 100,000 people died of cancer. In 2015, that number had decreased by 26 percent.
Dr. Brawley cited research funded by the American Cancer Society as a contributing factor to this decline. But, he made clear that more work and research needs to be done to ensure the progress made in the fight against cancer also addresses health disparities in low-income and minority communities.
“The most important question today is how can we provide high quality care to populations that do not often receive it,” Dr. Brawley said.
Rep. Brian Higgins (D-NY), who joined Dr. Brawley and Chris Hansen at the briefing, said, “The only failure in cancer research funding is when [the researcher] is forced to quit due to lack of funding.”
Rep. Higgins said that Congress needs to hear from ACS CAN volunteers about the importance of funding cancer research. With more cancer research, the statistics cited in the American Cancer Society’s Facts & Figures report can continue to improve.
After months of delay and hard negotiations, Congress has finally passed a funding bill! The bill includes a small increase for cancer research and prevention programs.