Urge leaders to support cancer research

Lives are at risk. More than 600,000 Americans are likely to die from cancer this year alone and some of those deaths are preventable.

We all know someone who has heard the words “you have cancer,” and many of us have fought the disease ourselves. As a dedicated worker in the fight to eliminate cancer, I was supposed to travel to Washington, D.C., earlier this month to let my voice be heard and to call on Congress to make investments in cancer research a top priority. Unfortunately, Hurricane Irma made it impossible for me to attend this event, but I want to make sure all of our congressmen and congresswomen and both senators from Florida hear the message I was going to deliver.

Each dollar Congress puts toward cancer research offers hope to the lives of so many Americans. New breakthroughs in treatment and prevention won’t sit idle in labs across the country, instead, they will be delivered to those who need it the most.

We are at a point where advancements in research are saving more lives than ever and it’s critical that we keep this momentum going forward. Now is not the time to turn back on progress made. Now is the time to invest in lifesaving cancer research.

Congress must act now. By increasing medical research funding at the National Institutes of Health by $2 billion, we can continue to make progress in the fight against cancer. More online: See more at SunSentinel.com/opinion/letters