"The Oncologist" publishes key address by Dr. Koop and announces CEO Roundtable on Cancer

MIAMISBURG, Ohio - The Oncologist, the international peer-reviewed medical journal, just published the keynote address by former U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. C. Everett Koop, summarizing the importance of the National Dialogue on Cancer (NDC).

The NDC is a forum that brings together leaders of national cancer organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions as well as representatives from public, private, and nonprofit entities, to foster collaborative efforts to overcome and finally eradicate cancer.

In calling for increased funding for research and access to the best available care for all Americans with cancer, Dr. Koop invited the nation to engage fully with this vital effort, saying, "For our bold new venture let's look forward … with hope, with optimism to our ultimate goal. What we seek is quite simply: 'Life without cancer.' And if that's not always possible, then let's talk about 'living with cancer.'"

The same issue of The Oncologist announced an initiative of top corporate executives and prominent citizens who convened a roundtable to speed progress toward eradicating cancer as one of the nation's major health concerns. Robert A. Ingram, chief operating officer of GlaxoSmithKline, chaired this first "CEO Roundtable on Cancer" at the request of former President George Bush who co-chairs the NDC.

Bush asked the executives for their commitment "to do something more about cancer prevention, diagnosis, and/or treatment within your own family as well as within your corporate family."

In addition to 20 corporate executives, the CEO Roundtable included former U.S. Surgeon General Dr. C. Everett Koop, and former U.S. Senator Connie Mack of Florida.

By the end of a day's deliberations, the Roundtable agreed to develop a list of priorities for shaping the national fight against cancer. These priorities will be delivered to former President Bush and the NDC.

"The sun, moon, and stars seem to be aligned for something significant to happen," summarized Peter Dolan, President and CEO of Bristol-Myers Squibb, at the end of the Roundtable.

The Oncologist is a medical journal devoted to physicians who care for cancer patients. More than 21,000 physicians around the world read it. TheOncologist.com is read by more than 50,000 physicians every month.