Shutdown, funding troubles hobble cancer fight

WASHINGTON – The government shutdown is halting more than paychecks; it’s stopping cancer research.

It’s affecting patients in clinical trials, doctors applying for grants and research for life-saving treatments.

Dr. V. Craig Jordan, known as the father of the breat-cancer preventative tamoxifen, calls dollars “the bullets” in the war on cancer. He adds that the shutdown is just the latest problem – inconsistent funding is a growing problem in the medical field.

“This has gone on for more than a decade with the general degrading in our capacity to maintain ourselves as the world leader in cancer research.”

He is speaking at a fundraising event Sunday that had to move. The American Cancer Society had to scramble to find a new host for the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5k walk that was going to be held on the Mall.

It will now be Metro-accessible at Six Flags America. More than 2,000 people are expected for the 9 a.m. Walk.

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