Here is some comparison between Barack Obama's cancer-fighting plan and John McCain's.   It is not complete and interested readers should follow the links at the end of the article and read their statements directly.

The impression is that Obama gives more details (giving about 1950 words) on what he would do as president than John McCain (who gives about 966 words). It seems that John McCain promises less and says less about what he would do to help fight cancer.   McCain states more on what he has done in the Senate for fighting cancer than does Obama who is a junior senator and understandably has less to say on what he has done on the issues.

Both candidates say little about cancer prevention although they do mention the importance of screenings for such as breast cancer and would like to see more screenings for Americans.  Nutrition and alternative medicine have no place in either candidate’s plan while Obama suggests that he would do something to help understand the effort of environmental factors on cancer.

1) Obama says he would double the budget for the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute within five years while John McCain says as President (he) "will make sure that our researchers have necessary funding to defeat cancer once and for all."

2) Barack Obama says his plan will ensure affordable health coverage for all Americans which would help more people who would otherwise have no health insurance or be underinsured.   McCain says his health plan gives tax credits.

3) Obama says under his plan Medicare co-pays for colorectal and breast cancer screenings will be eliminated and colorectal cancer screenings will be required in all group and individual health plans. McCain does not seem to give details on this.

4) Obama says his plan will end insurance discrimination. When cancer patients and survivors change health insurance plans, their new insurers are allowed under the current law to deny them insurance benefits for the pre-existing condition, according to the statement on Obama’s site.  Obama says his plan will end this practice and allow people to buy any private insurance plant at an affordable and fair price.

McCain does not emphasize on the discrimination, but says that his health plan focuses on working with businesses and insurance companies to widely employ common sense approaches like smoking cessation programs, healthier eating habits and more active lifestyle to reduce risk of cancer.

John McCain also says "he believes that no American, simply because of a pre-existing condition like cancer, should be denied access to quality and affordable coverage," and "There would be limits on premiums, and lower-income Americans would get additional financial assistance."

5) Barack Obama says he would improve access to clinical trials. He would improve the current system by paying more to trial workers and taking other measures to get 10 percent of adult cancer patients to participate in cancer trials.

McCain says he "understands their critical role as essential testing grounds for new break through treatments. He also supported the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act that, among other changes, modernized the registry for clinical trial information. John McCain will continue to stress the importance of clinical trials," cited from his site.

6) Obama wants to improve federal coordination of cancer research, treatment and awareness programs.  He says currently NCI, CDC and FDA and CMS are poorly coordinated, which he says is not good for cancer-fighting. He wants to change that.

McCain says "he will work to better coordinate the efforts between the government sector, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the private sector, especially with a focus on translational research so new discoveries in laboratories can be translated quickly and more efficiently to patients' bedsides," cited form his website.

7) Obama says he wants to strengthen the medical workforce. He says he will increase funding for loan repayment, adequate reimbursement, grants for training curricula etc. as he sees a need to increase the number of cancer specialists.

Editor's comment: The war against cancer was declared in 1971.   After nearly half a century, it seems we even need more physicians to fight cancer.   Does that mean we are losing battleground to cancer?

McCain also says "He will also engage the next generation of researchers early in this fight through academic curriculums and internships,” according to a statement from his website.

8) Obama says he supports the efforts to increase understanding and improve treatment of individuals negatively affected by environmental factors. McCain does not seem to comment on this.

For John McCain’s plan, read here

For Barack Obama’s plan, read here