ASCO Seeks Cooperation with Federal Health Agencies’ New Leaders To Improve US Cancer Care

In keeping with its mission of advancing cancer research and improving care for patients with cancer, leadership at the Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recently contacted the new heads of three federal health agencies to express a desire to cooperate toward these goals. This was in the form of letters written by Association Board Chair Eric P. Winer, MD, FASCO, specifically to the new leaders of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), FDA, and NIH.¹

In each correspondence to the three respective federal agencies, Dr. Winer named specific goals important for ASCO and the agencies to work towards. In his letter to new CMS Secretary Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA, he stressed the massive importance Medicare and Medicaid have for millions’ of patients access to cancer care.² To the new FDA Commissioner Martin A. Makary, MD, MPH, Dr. Winer emphasized the need to improve patients’ access to cancer treatment agents and equipment and the availability of clinical trials.³ He again raised the importance of access to innovative clinical trials in his letter to NIH Director Jayanta Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, and highlighted the critical role NIH has across the entire cancer care, research, and therapy development landscape.⁴

In all three letters to the agencies, Dr. Winer offered ASCO as an expert resource in cancer care and stated that the Association is “committed to ensuring that evidence-based practices for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer are available to all Americans.”^2-4

Reference

1. Association for Clinical Oncology. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://www.asco.org/news-initiatives/policy-news-analysis/asco-seeks-engage-new-leaders-nih-cms-fda
2. 2025-ASCO-Intro-Letter-Oz. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://cdn.bfldr.com/KOIHB2Q3/as/hkmtnvhrcfjqkn3jsm7nh9wr/2025-ASCO-Intro-Letter-Oz
3. 2025-ASCO-Intro-Letter-Makary. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://cdn.bfldr.com/KOIHB2Q3/as/6pgwxpskq9qsqkjbw9tcxgc/2025-ASCO-Intro-Letter-Makary
4. 2025-ASCO-Intro-Letter-Bhattacharya. Accessed April 25, 2025. https://cdn.bfldr.com/KOIHB2Q3/as/ng6x9zcvhn6rpkjw4b2bqrv3/2025-ASCO-Intro-Letter-Bhattacharya