A U.S. 'Cancer Moonshot' to accelerate cancer research

In January 2016 President Obama announced a “Cancer Moonshot” to “accelerate our understanding of cancer and its prevention, early detection, treatment, and cure” ( 1 ). A Blue Ribbon Panel (BRP) of scientific experts was convened to make recommendations to the National Cancer Advisory Board (NCAB), the adviser to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), on research opportunities uniquely poised for acceleration. These recommendations were presented on 7 September 2016 ( 2 ). As cochairs of the BRP, we describe our approach, what it produced, and our expectations.