After an exhaustive review, the May 2010 released report by the President’s Cancer Panel calls on the U.S. to rethink its approach to cancer and urges a new focus on primary prevention.

The Panel, consisting of Bush-era appointees, focused on environmental toxins as a significant factor in rising cancer rates and calls for stronger regulation of chemicals before they are released into the environment.  This could lead to a monumental shift in the way that the government approaches cancer and opens the door to new regulations to reduce and ban toxic chemicals as a means of preventing cancer.  Most importantly, it calls for a focus on primary prevention and shifts the burden on to manufacturers to show that their products are safe before they hit the market. This is especially important for babies, children and adolescents whose cells are changing rapidly, leaving them especially vulnerable to the effects of toxic exposures.  In its 200 plus page report, the Panel wrote:

• “The true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated. With nearly 80,000 chemicals on the market in the U.S., many of which are used by millions of Americans in their daily lives and are un- or under-studied and largely unregulated, exposure to environmental chemicals is widespread…. Efforts to inform the public of such harmful exposures and how to prevent them must be increased. All levels of government, from federal to local, must work to protect every American from needless disease through rigorous regulation of environmental pollutants."

Moreover, the panel now pays special attention to exposures to children and urges immediate action, especially since children are 

• “… at special risk due to their smaller body mass and rapid physical development, both of which magnify their vulnerability to known or suspected carcinogens, including radiation. Numerous environmental contaminants can cross the placental barrier; to a disturbing extent babies are born: pre-polluted. Children also can be harmed by genetic or other damage resulting from environmental exposures sustained by the mother (and, in some cases, the father.)"