Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009 Introduced in US Senate. Take Action Now!‏

From Stephanie:

It is so critical that you help our cause by letting your Senators know that it is time to buck up! All legislation in committee has to be reintroduced in the next legislative session, so we've just gotten over the first hurdle. This would be such a meaningful step in addressing the disease by beginning to level the playing field with other diseases, particularly other cancers.

Go to http://capwiz.com/lungcanceralliance/home/ to express your views about the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act. It's easy. Please.

Lung Cancer Alliance Hails Early Introduction of Comprehensive Lung Cancer Research Legislation

Commends United States Senate Cancer Caucus Co-Chairs

Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sam Brownback(R-KS) For Their Continued Leadership

Washington, D.C. [January 27, 2009]--Just three weeks into the 111^th Congress, United States Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)and Sam Brownback(R-KS) reintroduced the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009, legislation authorizing a comprehensive, multi-agency research effort to reduce lung cancer’s mortality.

The Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2009 (attached) declares lung cancer a public health priority, authorizes the Secretaries of Health and Human Services, Defense and Veterans Affairs to combine their key assets and to develop a comprehensive and coordinated research program with a goal of cutting lung cancer’s mortality in half by 2016. The first year of the five year bill would be funded at no less than $75 million. Additional sums are authorized as determined by these three agencies in the overall five year plan.

“We could not be more pleased and honored to again be working with these Senate champions who throughout their public service careers have been staunch advocates not just for upgrading cancer research generally, but lung cancer research specifically, said Laurie Fenton Ambrose, Lung Cancer Alliance (LCA) President & CEO. “By introducing this lung cancer bill so early, these Senate Cancer Caucus Co-chairs are signaling to the President, the Senate and the Country the urgent need to address lung cancer -- now”.

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death for both men and women in the United States and world-wide. In 1971, when the National Cancer Act was passed, lung cancer’s 5-year survival rate was 12%. Today, it is only 15% while the 5-year survival rates for breast, prostate and colon cancers have risen to 89%, 99% and 65% respectively. While great progress has been made in tobacco cessation, and needs to continue, 65% of people now being diagnosed with lung cancer are either former smokers or never smokers.

“It’s time for the federal government to step up its efforts and make fighting lung cancer a national priority,” said Senator Feinstein.

“Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women, but efforts to fund research and innovative new drug therapies have been shortchanged when compared to other cancers. This bill would boost funding and expand research into the causes and treatment of this deadly scourge," she said.

Lung cancer has received only a small fraction of research funding as compared to other cancers and diseases, primarily because patients are being blamed for their disease whether they smoked or not and because so few patients survive to advocate for change. In addition, only 16% of lung cancers are being detected at an early curable stage.

“We must make every effort to address lung cancer comprehensively and thus not overlook the import of earlier detection and better disease management. This is how we are going to make a difference in lung cancer mortality,” said Senator Brownback.

“Senators Feinstein and Brownback have never waivered in their commitment to do everything possible to help the entire lung cancer community, said Fenton Ambrose. “All those people and families who have been touched by lung cancer now have a vehicle for change and with everyone pitching in, yes, we can get it passed,” she concluded.

We need your help! Visit www.lungcanceralliance.org and contact your Senators today to encourage their support of the legislation!

Kay Cofrancesco

Director of External Relations

Lung Cancer Alliance

888 16th St., NW

Ste 150

Washington, DC 20006

202-463-2080

202-744-1541(cell)

www.lungcanceralliance.org

President Obama's plan to fight cancer

The below excerpt was taken from: http://www.whitehouse.gov/agenda/women/

Ovarian cancer is the fourth-leading cause of cancer-related death among women in the United States. Because of the lack of early symptoms or a proven screening test, ovarian cancer also has the highest mortality of all cancers of the female reproductive system. President Obama was an original co-sponsor of Johanna's Law, a piece of legislation signed into law in January 2007 that will educate women and increase awareness of ovarian cancer. The President has also supported efforts to combat breast cancer, another leading cause of death among women. He helped pass legislation in the Illinois State Senate to expand insurance coverage for mammograms.

So, the president plans to deal with the 4th leading cause before the first leading cause, which is lung cancer?

Stephanie submitted the following to the Citizen's Briefing Book:

Perhaps no public health policy area is more critically in need of transformation than lung cancer. For decades lung cancer has been the leading cancer killer and to date, no President has ever demanded accountability and change.
Lung cancer continues to be the biggest cancer killer in every ethnic group, taking more lives each year than breast, prostate, colon, kidney, melanoma and liver cancers combined. Yet lung cancer continues to be allotted the least research funding per death of all the major cancers.

Most new patients are diagnosed so late that they die within the first year. I am one of the "lucky" ones, having hit that first year milestone. Lung cancer hits current, former and never smokers. I happen to be a never-smoker diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer fifteen months ago (with no other risk factors, nor a family history of any cancer), and I have to work deliberately every day to not convey to my two small daughters the fear I have about leaving them motherless. I now know many mothers who are planning for their departure from their families due to this horrible disease. About 25,000-30,000 never-smokers die each year of this disease (just this sub-group is more than die of leukemia, lymphoma, liver or ovarian cancers)! Yet patients continue to be blamed for their disease, and the stigma of smoking is still being used to hide the neglect.

No one deserves lung cancer, smoker or not, but in order to understand how dramatically misplaced the blame that stands in our way, the public must realize that the enormous group of people dying from it are quite diverse--one can't form the mental image that he may desire in order to justify the continued ignorance of the true impact of this disease.

Over 160,000 people die annually from lung cancer. In fact, it kills twice as many women as breast cancer. Eight years ago, a federal study group warned the National Cancer Institute that lung cancer research was being funded far below its massive public health impact. The Surgeon General even called lung cancer in women an ‘epidemic’.”

Yet nothing has changed. Lung cancer “policy” has failed. Changing this will require an increase in research funding and more: It needs a commitment, a comprehensive plan of action and a sense of urgency.

Please set a firm goal for your administration: a 50% reduction in lung cancer mortality by 2015. Thank you.

I don't think we'll ever know for sure, but I hope Stephanie's entry made it into the President's Briefing book. Don't get me wrong, I want a cure for all cancers, but to continue to neglect the number 1 cancer killer seems well... neglectful!