Vice President Joe Biden launched part of his cancer cure moonshot just across the Delaware border.
Biden visited Penn Medicine's Abramson Cancer Center in Philadelphia Friday to talk to a leading immunotherapy doctor.
Lisa Henry heads up Delaware's chronic diseases bureau at the Division of Public Health. She says they and their neighbors are committed to working together against cancer.
"I do think this is an area that is focused on and dedicated to letting everyone have access to cancer treatment and early detection," Henry says.
She adds that Delaware's Division of Public Health is watching Biden's plans closely in hopes they create more resources for cancer prevention, early detection and treatment.
"We're excited. We hope to be a part of what his initiatives are," she says. "It's great that people are talking about this and the need for more cancer care and research."
She notes that one aspect of Biden's ideas so far -- crafting policies to let doctors share data more easily -- could clear the way for clinical trials of new cancer treatments, such as those that take place at hospitals in and around Delaware.
Those policies will also be important for another area Biden is focusing on: genome sequencing for personalized cancer medicine. A leading Delaware cancer doctor says it could be "extremely useful" in making better therapy available more quickly.
