Congress has a decision to make for cancer detection

Earlier this year, President Joe Biden announced a plan to reduce the cancer death rate by at least 50% over the next 25 years. He dubbed the initiative the "Cancer Moonshot 2.0," a nod to former President John F. Kennedy's ambitious plans to put Americans on the moon. Similar initiatives, including President Richard Nixon's "war on cancer" with the signing of The National Cancer Act in 1971, also attempted to take on the disease.

And, while progress has been made, if you ask any of the nearly 40,000 Missourians who learned this year they have cancer, the status quo is far from acceptable.

Here's what we need to do to cut the cancer rate in half. First, we need the right tools. Detecting cancer early, before it has the chance to spread, dramatically improves the chances of successful treatment and quality of life. Until very recently, though, we have only been able to screen for five types of cancer out of the more than 100 different cancers known to be out there. So, it's not surprising that the majority of cancer deaths are from malignancies for which we do not have early screening.

New technologies known as Multi-Cancer Early Detection (MCED) tests are set to change this paradigm. Doctors can now test for dozens at a time — with just a single blood draw. This isn't the stuff of science fiction; it's real and becoming available.

But we won't even get off the launchpad if Washington does not provide a mechanism to make this technology accessible. Unlike treatments and therapies, the Medicare program does not currently have a clear pathway for covering preventative tests like MCED once the Food and Drug Administration approves them.

Fortunately, there's a bill being considered by Congress called the Multi-Cancer Early Detection Screening Coverage Act that will update Medicare to ensure new life-saving cancer technologies reach our vulnerable loved ones. This bill, like earlier modifications to Medicare that brought us mammograms and colonoscopies, has the potential to save millions of American lives and reach deep into the hearts of rural communities that face challenges accessing traditional cancer screenings.

The bill currently has more than 200 signatories — from both parties — in the House and Senate. Now it needs a push to get over the finish line.

There is no reason anyone should be forced to wait for the cancer technology we have in hand. Right now, Congress has the ability to be part of a historic push that will deal a blow to this awful disease. It's past time for all of our representatives in Congress to step up match the importance of this moment with real action.

Siobhan McLaughlin Lesley is executive director of Gilda's Club Kansas City.