In the past 60 years or so, there seems to be a belief that throwing money at a problem will ultimately lead to a solution. I don't know when this belief took hold but suspect it might go back to the Manhattan Project. It certainly seemed to apply for the Apollo moon missions. However, there are quite a few problems out there that are much more difficult to solve than an physics or engineering challenge. Cancer is one of them. As this article states, we've been fighting a "war on cancer" since 1971.

In 1970, the American people knew what they wanted -- a cure for the second-leading cause of death. President Nixon heard the voice of the people and the concerns of the medical profession. In his January 1971 State of the Union address, President Nixon made a special request for an additional $100 million to be added to the NCI budget for cancer research. In October 1971 he converted the Army's Fort Detrick, Maryland, biological warfare facility to a cancer research center. The resulting Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center eventually became an internationally recognized laboratory for cancer and AIDS research. However, President Nixon took a much bigger step when he signed the National Cancer Act into law on December 23, 1971, declaring, "I hope in the years ahead we will look back on this action today as the most significant action taken during my Administration."

Cancer, like AIDS, is a problem that can't be solved simply by throwing more money at it. Too bad, because curing cancer (or AIDS) would be a tremendous benefit for humanity. We've made big strides in cancer treatment in since Nixon declared a war on cancer, but we still have a long way to go. By all means, we must continue the research, but more money above what we're already spending doesn't guarantee anything.