In a nod to JFK, Biden pushing 'moonshot' to fight cancer

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden is set to channel John F. Kennedy on the 60th anniversary of the former president's moonshot speech, as the incumbent tries to set the nation’s sights on “ending cancer as we know it.”

His speech at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum comes as Biden seeks to rally the nation around developing treatments and therapeutics for the pervasive diseases that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention rank as the second-highest killer of people in the U.S. after heart disease. Biden hopes to move the U.S. closer to the goal he set in February of cutting U.S. cancer fatalities by 50% over the next 25 years and to dramatically improve the lives of caregivers and those suffering from cancer.

Danielle Carnival, the White House cancer moonshot coordinator, told The Associated Press that the administration sees huge potential in the commencement of the blood diagnostic study on identifying and treating cancers.