Cancer Research: A Supercomputing Perspective

Cancer, the second-leading cause of death in the U.S. after heart disease, kills more than 500,000 citizens per year, including about 2,000 children. In 2016, then Vice President Joe Biden launched the Cancer Moonshot, saying: "I know that we can help solidify a genuine global commitment to end cancer as we know it today -- and inspire a new generation of scientists to pursue new discoveries and the bounds of human endeavor." The importance of high performance computing (HPC) in cancer research was recognized by the Cancer Moonshot Task Force report, and by then Vice President Joe Biden and Energy Secretary Ernie Monitz. "Supercomputers are key to the Cancer Moonshot," Monitz wrote. "These exceptionally high-powered machines have the potential to greatly accelerate the development of cancer therapies by finding patterns in massive datasets too large for human analysis. Supercomputers can help us better understand the complexity of cancer development, identify novel and effective treatments, and help elucidate patterns in vast and complex data sets that advance our understanding of cancer."