Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper

Along with Preventing Colorectal Cancer.org and the Prevent Cancer Foundation, C3 hosted a Congressional briefing in order to provide Members and health care staff with information about current colorectal cancer screening programs that work and pending legislation that has the potential to save thousands of lives and billions in Medicare expenditures by expanding access to colorectal cancer screening and treatment.

Congresswoman Kathy Dahlkemper spoke at the briefing about the impact of colorectal cancer on women and to urge support for her recently-introduced resolution.  A champion for the health care and wellness needs of women, Representative Dahlkemper discussed the importance of early detection and screening in the fight against colorectal cancer.

“Colorectal cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in both women and men in the United States, yet many people are unaware of the need to be screened for this disease.  As many as 44,000 lives a year could be saved if colorectal cancer screening was fully accessible and utilized.  Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month is about educating men and women to save lives. I am proud to be part of this important effort to raise awareness and help in the fight against colorectal cancer.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Leading up to this evening’s vote on health care reform legislation in the House, much of the debate has focused on whether or not Speaker Pelosi has lined up the 216 votes needed to send a bill to the President.

So, what exactly will the pending legislation do?

Take a look at a side-by-side chart comparing some of the provisions in the House-passed, Senate-passed, and pending House reconciliation bills that C3 thinks are important for people living with colorectal cancer.  The chart also includes links to the full text of each of the bills, so that you can read the complete legislation.

Josh and Kimberly Wimberly

Josh and Kimberly Wimberly traveled from Alabama to Washington DC, and participated in C3′s 4th Annual Call-on Congress earlier this week.  They met with Representative Spencer Bachus’s health policy staff and asked for the Representative’s support of legislation that will help save thousands of lives and increase awareness regarding the importance of early detection and screening for colorectal cancer.

As a direct result of their efforts, Representative Bachus signed on to cosponsor the Colorectal Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment Act (H.R. 1189).

Is your Representative a cosponsor of this important legislation?  If not, call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and ask your Representative to cosponsor H.R. 1189.  Or take a minute to email your Representative and ask them to cosponsor H.R. 1189.

* * * Remember, the House of Representatives is set to vote on health care reform Sunday afternoon.  As a result the House email system and Capitol Switchboard are experiencing high volumes of traffic.  If you can’t get through today please try again next week.  We need your voice to win the fight against colorectal cancer!! * * *

Advocates from across the country participating in C3′s 2010 Call-on Congress had the opportunity to get tips on having effective meetings with Members and Congressional staff from two staffers whose bosses are champions for the colorectal cancer community.

Theresa Vawter, Legislative Assistant for Representative Kay Granger (R-TX) who is the sponsor of the Colorectal Cancer Prevention, Early Detection, and Treatment Act (H.R. 1189) which would put in place a national colorectal cancer screening and treatment program participated in a panel along with Tom Wharton, Health Care Legislative Assistant and Speechwriter for Representative Dan Boren (D-OK).  Representative Boren is the sponsor of the Colorectal Cancer Screening and Treatment Act (H.R. 1330) which will help to increase population-based screening rates for colorectal cancer by requiring all health insurance plans, both individual and group, to cover a colonoscopy for anyone age 50 or older.

Theresa and Tom spoke with the advocates about why each of their bosses is such a champion for colorectal cancer issues.  Like too many Americans, both Representative Granger and Representative Boren have lost family members to this disease.  Each is using their position as Member of Congress to push legislation that if enacted will lower the cost of colonoscopies and expand access to screening and treatment services. Read the rest of this entry »

On Tuesday, March 16 C3 Advocates who attended the 4th annual conference and lobby day had the opportunity to hear from experts in colorectal cancer research and federal agencies about CRC research and cancer control efforts.

Dr. Jeffery Chou is a medical oncology fellow in the Program in Immunology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Early in his research career as an undergraduate student, he studied the use of radiolabeled anti-CEA antibodies as therapy for colorectal cancer at the City of Hope which fostered in him an interest for colorectal cancer immunotherapy.  He joined the lab of Dr. Edus H. Warren at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center to study the immunobiology of colorectal cancer and develop adoptive T cell therapy against colorectal cancer. His project “Epigenetic modulation of colorectal cancer stem cells for immunotherapy” is sponsored by the 2009 AACR/C3 Colorectal Cancer Coalition fellows grant in memory of Lisa Dubow and provides pre-clinical evidence supporting the combination of the epigenetic drug decitabine and T cell therapy against the cancer-testis antigen NY-ESO-1 to treat colorectal cancer. He has also received awards from ASCO and the Cancer Research Institute to support his work.

Dr. Chou spoke to C3 Advocates about the research he has been doing into treatments for late stage colorectal cancer using funding he received from the C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition’s Lisa Fund Grant. Read the rest of this entry »