First lady Jill Biden visiting Moffitt Cancer Center to highlight ‘Cancer Moonshot’ initiative
TAMPA, Fla. - First lady Jill Biden was in Tampa Friday afternoon to tour Moffitt Cancer Center. The visit was part of the Biden administration's Cancer Moonshot, the mission to reduce deaths from cancer by 50-percent over the next 25 years.
The first lady met with doctors, patients, and researchers to get an up-close look at the work being done to find innovative ways to treat, cure and prevent cancer.
The tour included a stop in Dr. Eric Lau's lab, where he and his research team showed Biden their work with a natural seaweed-derived sugar that can stop the progression of cancer and enhance current therapies.
"This sugar is very different from other types of sugars. It doesn’t come with the negative health effects of regular sugar, but we know that it can stimulate an anti-tumor immune response," explained Lau.
Another major focus of the tour was on new prevention methods and ways to increase awareness on the importance of screenings.
"As you know early detection is the key and during the pandemic, so many people have put off their cancer screenings," stated Biden. "I’m going to be out traveling trying to get people back to screenings."
WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 02: U.S. First lady Dr. Jill Biden delivers remarks during a Cancer Moonshot initiative event in the East Room of the White House on February 02, 2022 in Washington, DC. During the event, U.S. President Joe Biden announced t
Moffitt is out trying to get people back to cancer screenings as well. Part of the First Lady's tour included the Mole Patrol RV, a mobile unit that travels to different communities and popular locations to offer free skin cancer screenings.
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Moffitt hopes to replicate the Mole Patrol model across all types of cancer screenings to bring education and early detection directly into communities.
American Cancer Society volunteer Alma Gonzalez says she's happy to see the Bidens applying a renewed focus on finding a cure for cancer. She learned the importance of routine screenings firsthand when her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer.
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"She had not had a screening so by the time she was diagnosed she was already at stage four and didn’t last very long. The cancer had spread throughout her body," recalled Gonzalez. "Those of us who have lost a parent, particularly if she was awesome, you just miss her all the time. I recently said to my son, that little squeeze you feel on your heart is just a reminder of how close you were to someone and having had the privilege of loving someone and being loved by someone."
Screenings can detect cancer before symptoms present themselves and can catch cancer before it has a chance to spread.
LINK: Learn more about cancer screening recommendations here.