Cancer Surgeon, Survivor to Lead Institute

Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, a cancer surgeon who twice has been treated for the disease, brings to his new job as head of the National Cancer Institute a personal understanding of “cancer’s frightening effects,” President Bush said Thursday.

Bush, who announced the appointment in a White House ceremony, said Von Eschenbach was “one of America’s finest medical researchers” and a man who “understands personally the importance of our war on cancer.

“He is a two-time cancer survivor--all too familiar with cancer’s frightening effects,” Bush said. “He will bring to his new position not only expertise and talent and dedication, but compassion for the millions of cancer patients and their families struggling with this disease.”

Von Eschenbach, 60, is a prostate cancer expert and surgeon at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

“To the more than 1 million Americans who are diagnosed each year with cancer, and in remembrance of all those who have died of this disease, I pledge that we will not rest or yield until we have fulfilled the promise of eliminating the suffering and death caused by cancer,” Von Eschenbach said at the ceremony.

He also promised to share cancer research with other nations.

Earlier, in a statement, Von Eschenbach said that “as a clinician, I have seen an increasing number of patients live longer, many being cured. Personally, as a two-time cancer survivor, I have benefited from these improving treatments too.”

Von Eschenbach was treated successfully for melanoma in 1989 and for prostate cancer two years ago.

He is succeeding Dr. Richard D. Klausner, who said in October that he was stepping down.

Cancer research support organizations were quick to praise the appointment.

John R. Seffrin, the national chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society, said that during 20 years as a cancer treatment specialist, Von Eschenbach has proved “his compassion and commitment to eradicating cancer as a major health threat here and now.”

Von Eschenbach served as president-elect of the cancer society’s national volunteer board of directors.

Seffrin said that “although we will greatly miss Dr. Von Eschenbach’s leadership, the nation will no doubt benefit from his service and expertise.”

Von Eschenbach holds the Roy M. and Phyllis Gough Huffington Distinguished Chair in Urologic Oncology at M.D. Anderson and is head of the center’s genitourinary cancer program.

The National Cancer Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health, is the nation’s lead funder of cancer research, supporting about 5,000 scientists on a budget of about $2.9 billion.