The cancer mortality rate for children has declined by more than 50% since 1975, yet it remains the leading cause of disease-related deaths among children. Photo: David Davies/Press Association/AP.
According to CNN
President Donald Trump signed on Tuesday an executive order that the White House says would allow the use of artificial intelligence to transform approaches to research into pediatric cancer.
However, this move comes amid hundreds of millions of dollars in cuts to scientific programs and proposals to shrink the budget of the main federal agency for cancer research and training – moves experts view as a threat to delivering new cancer treatments.
“We will defeat pediatric cancer once and for all,” said Trump on Tuesday at the White House, flanked by children who had once fought cancer. “I am thrilled to sign a very historic order that will significantly accelerate pediatric cancer research and harness the extraordinary potential of artificial intelligence in the fight against this horrific disease.”
During the announcement, the president turned to the children who stood to his left and said: “All of you will be feeling better very soon.”
According to studies, the incidence of cancer among children in the United States has risen since the 1970s. Although the childhood cancer death rate has fallen by more than half since 1975, the disease remains a leading cause of death among children from illnesses. Studies show that funding for pediatric oncology has traditionally been underfunded: it accounted for less than 10% of the federal cancer research budget.
The new executive order doubles the National Institutes of Health’s investments in the pediatric oncology data initiative and adds $50 million.
The initiative collects data on every child, adolescent, and young adult diagnosed with cancer in the United States, regardless of where they receive care, with the aim of helping scientists better understand the nature of pediatric oncology. Part of the new funds will go to grants for scientists working on projects applying artificial intelligence in pediatric cancer research.
The White House said the order guarantees the integration of artificial intelligence into the Department of Health and Human Services systems to exchange medical information among health care systems, organizations, and patients.
The order also directs the Make America Healthy Again Commission within HHS to collaborate with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy to use AI to improve pediatric oncology clinical trials, more accurate diagnoses, and more precise tailoring of treatment so as not to unduly harm the child’s body.
“The treatment these little children go through includes therapies such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy that push them through hell,” said NIH director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya earlier on Tuesday. “While 85% are cured, the treatment itself can cause health problems if children grow into adulthood. About 60% of childhood cancer survivors face serious, life-threatening health issues in adulthood.”
The director also noted that U.S. investments in science have significantly improved outcomes for children with cancer. However, the Trump administration also cut hundreds of positions in the federal workforce and scrapped hundreds of millions of dollars in grants for scientific research, including those funding pediatric oncology research.
Such cuts left families who wanted to join trials of new treatments with few options. In particular, the Children’s Neuro-Oncology Consortium – a national network of doctors, scientists and hospitals that for 25 years has given children access to experimental treatments through clinical trials – learned in August that it would no longer receive federal funding.
While budget talks continue, the Trump administration initially proposed cutting the National Cancer Institute’s research programs by nearly 37%.
“National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute truly fund important research that would otherwise go unfunded. Often these are basic research that is too far removed from a product that industry would fund, yet industry still benefits from this funding,” said Mark Fleri.
According to Fleri, even a 10% reduction in NIH funding could lead to 30 fewer drugs developed over 30 years, and on average two fewer per year after that. He added that this is only if the cut is 10%.
It is unclear how exactly the new AI initiative will affect future research, but families at the signing ceremony expressed hope. Joshua Armstrong, father of Laurel, a girl diagnosed with leukemia at the age of two, told Trump that he had often wondered why there aren’t better treatments for children with cancer. He stressed that the order gives hope to other families of children with cancer.
“Doctors will be able to obtain better treatments faster for patients like Laurel,” Armstrong said.
Read also:
- Executive order by Donald Trump aims to ease 401(k) access to alternative investments like private equity, sparking debate on private vs public market returns and implications for retirement plans.
- Hollywood debates AI actress Tilly Norwood, balancing innovation with concerns over job loss and ethical use of AI in film and TV.
- The NIH director outlines a unified strategy focusing on chronic diseases, AI, and research transparency amid budget cuts and reorganization.
