In 2015 the current outgoing Vice President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, while at position lost his oldest son Beau, 46, to glioblastoma multiforme, one of the most aggressive brain tumors. This has possibly changed the history of the world, as Biden decided not to run in the recent presidential elections in order to personally take on the coordination of the national effort in the fight against cancer.

As a result of its political skill and its prestige among senators and congressmen of both parties, last December 13, the financing of the project called Moonshot was approved in Washington (USA). The name of this initiative comes from the intention to apply a similar effort to the one that put Neil Armstrong on the surface of the Moon in 1969, and to achieve crucial advances in the treatment of cancer. But it is not only the budgetary effort (1,800 million dollars in the first year) that will be made that is astronomical, but also the work coordination and prioritization "to achieve decades of progress in five years", as indicated in the report Cancer Moonshot presented by Biden to President Barack Obama in October.

At the last meeting of the association American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), meeting of reference letter worldwide that brings together more than 30,000 professionals, Biden explained the project and encouraged participants to join forces in the research against cancer:

"Oncologists and researchers are aware that alone they cannot make progress against cancer. What is currently required goes beyond any individual or single discipline, it goes beyond medicine itself. It requires in some ways a change in mentality. It requires much more openness: data open, partnership open, and above all, open minds" (ASCO, Chicago, June 7).

From these statements, the two most important axes of the project Moonshot are the immunotherapy against cancer, in its different forms, and the data analysis through a powerful development of informatics, sample collections and access to the data. Among researchers, the aim is to promote and encourage partnership rather than competition in order to achieve the major goals proposed.

In addition to focusing on immunotherapy and computer management of large instructions of data genomic , the project wants to change the attitude of research applied in childhood cancer. The development in pediatric patients is slower because of the risk of legal liability assumed by pharmaceutical companies in this subject of experimental treatments with minors. This undesirable status in the face of the drama of childhood cancer must change as soon as possible.

The pragmatic sense of the American administration fully incorporates the private sector in the effort, to take advantage of its dynamism and its capacity for preclinical and clinical development of new treatments. Specifically, in cancer immunotherapy, the leadership of many research projects is in the hands of industry, but it is necessary to strengthen the collaborations of pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with academic institutions.

In Spain there is no shortage of researchers, so we would like our politicians to be as far-sighted as Mr. Biden. Our effort in research in cancer is much lower proportionally despite having a country that has trained prestigious researchers. In fact, there are at least average dozen Spaniards among the main advisors of project Moonshot.

In Spain's day-to-day political life, our representatives have other concerns which, I am sure, are legitimate. But missing the train now is going to leave Spain in a lamentable backwardness in a crucial field that should be prioritized. There are news, such as the unanimous signature in the American congress of the project Moonshot last Tuesday, that go unnoticed in the Spanish media but that represent the true projection of a people and its rulers. An example of joint effort, of all political parties (Democrats and Republicans), in prioritizing the research in cancer with the means, the capacity and the enthusiasm to overcome it.

Congratulations Mister Biden.

*Also published in El Diario Vasco (29/12/2016), Hoy Extremadura (31/12/2016) and El Diario Montañés (07/01/2017).