This week, cancer researchers identified four distinct types of breast cancer, one of which is linked to ovarian and lung cancers. Despite research like this, cancer is the leading cause of death in the U.S.
Nobel Laureate Dr. Harold Varmus, director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Cancer Institute, discusses the obstacles that are slowing down the treatment and prevention of the disease. He is also speaking about where medical research ranks in the federal budget and the low priority given to health issues in the 2012 presidential campaign.
The National Cancer Institute has spent almost $90 billion in research over the past 40 years.
He is making his remarks at the National Press Club.