Scientists say research money sorely needed, but some critics say the state shouldn't go into debt to pay for it.
By Corrie MacLaggan
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Sunday, October 07, 2007
HOUSTON — Here's the future, according to scientists at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center: With the prick of a finger, doctors will be able to examine your blood to detect cancer long before a hard-to-treat tumor grows. A blood test would be cheaper and less disruptive than, say, a colonoscopy, which can cost thousands of dollars and requires drinking a strong laxative first.
And if you do have cancer, doctors will be able to give you specialized drugs rather than a toxic, one-size-fits-all treatment.
The only thing standing between scientists and such breakthroughs is research money, experts say. In recent federal budgets, cancer research funding has been stagnant. The situation is driving young scientists out of the field and discouraging established researchers.
"It's never been bleaker," said Dr. David Poplack, deputy director of the Dan L. Duncan Cancer Center at Baylor College of Medicine. "The tragedy in this is that it's bleak at a time when science is perhaps at its most exciting time."
To compensate, Texas is among the states trying their own initiatives to pay for cancer research. On Nov. 6, voters will consider Proposition 15, a $3 billion bond proposal that would create the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to distribute as much as $300 million a year for a decade. Public and private research facilities and educational institutions in Texas could apply.
Many of Texas' leading cancer research institutions are in Houston, home of the 740-acre Texas Medical Center, which employs 60,000 people and treats 5.1 million patients a year.
Among the dozens of institutions at the complex — whose members regularly collaborate with one another and with experts at nearby Rice University — are the state's top two recipients of federal cancer research money, M.D. Anderson, which U.S. News & World Report this year named the country's top cancer hospital, and Baylor.
Houston will also be key to deciding the fate of the proposal. With the mayor, City Council and a major school bond package on the ballot here, Proposition 15 supporters predict that as much as 40 percent of the votes on the proposal statewide will come from Houston.
The proposition's supporters — who include Republican Gov. Rick Perry — are getting a boost from cyclist Lance Armstrong, who is planning a bus tour later this month to drum up support. The seven-time Tour de France winner lobbied at the Texas Capitol for the proposal, which had to clear the Legislature to get on the ballot.
Although there has been little organized opposition, there are critics. In his standard speech to groups like the Rotary Club, state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, has been signaling he's against Proposition 15 — not because he's opposed to cancer research but because he doesn't think the state should go into debt to pay for it.
