Obama's cancer-fighting initiative to cost $1 billion

President Obama will ask for $755 million in mandatory funding to support the administration's new initiative to fight for a cure for cancer, the White House announced on Monday. The requested amount, which will be included in Mr. Obama's final budget blueprint, will bring the total cost to $1 billion. The forthcoming request comes on top of $195 million that has already been authorized for the current fiscal year. That first sliver will be dedicated to new cancer-related research activities at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). And the bulk amount that will be requested will go toward NIH work next year as well as the Food and Drug Administration.