It's just unbelievable. Howard Waage, a prostate cancer patient from La Selva Beach, Calif., who attends several support groups for prostate cancer victims, agrees about the male inability to talk about such personal matters. When Congress hands out research money, cash flows to the projects demanded by the loudest and best organized health lobby groups. Some researchers have steered away from investigating prostate cancer because money is more plentiful for other kinds of work. Pienta makes the same point.
Federal money makes a difference.
Two examples are the drug AZT for AIDS patients and new chemotherapies for women with aggressive strains of breast cancer. There are signs the federal government is awakening to the problem, the most public of which is a new commemorative first-class postage stamp to raise prostate cancer awareness. One reason is a growing willingness by prominent prostate cancer victims to speak out about their disease. The funding plight now has caught the attention of the White House. Earlier this year, President Clinton devoted his weekly radio address to prostate cancer and pledged more federal research money.