According to the state health department, breast, prostate, lung and colorectal cancer are the most common cancer types in Texas. They are also the leading causes of cancer-related deaths in Texas. (mast3r/Adobe Stock)
Cancer is the second-leading cause of death for Texans and medical professionals are concerned about proposed federal budget cuts to the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. Fumiko Chino, an oncologist at the MD Anderson Cancer Center and a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, said she has seen firsthand the importance of research conducted by the cancer institute for her breast cancer patients.
“We used to treat everyone with radiation, a daily treatment over six to seven weeks,” Chino explained. “There are people today that get zero doses of radiation or even as little as a week of treatments. And so that type of innovation is available today because of research dollars invested in the community of research years ago.”
Under the Trump administration, the Department of Health and Human Services said the cuts are necessary to streamline programs, eliminate redundancies and prioritize gold-standard science.
The proposed budget reduces funding to the cancer institute by almost $3 billion. Clinicians, scientists and other workers have already been let go or quit. Chino stressed if the proposed cuts are implemented, they will have negative effects on future doctors and patients.
“I’ve already heard from people going into the field that they’re concerned about the funding, about their ability to actually get good training, to get funding for future careers,” Chino reported. “This sort of brain drain means that maybe less people are going into cancer care. And that will leave patients of the future, I think, at a real deficit.”
She added valuable research is already being lost because of cuts to research programs.
“People come from all over the world for their training, for cancer treatments, but honestly, investments in America help Americans first,” Chino noted. “It’s a shame to think that the next person in my clinic may not have the opportunity for cure because of these cuts.”
Related: Texas native reveals: ‘Why I’ll be terrified to practice in Texas as an OB-GYN’
