Members of the 2010-2011 Committee include:

LaRisha Baker, Chair
Portland, OR

Rochelle Joseph
Upper Marlboro, MD

Carol Larson
Minneapolis, MN

Arlene Murphy
Milford, OH

Doug Sharp
Prairie Village, KS

Josh Wimberly
Bessemer, AL

Carlea Bauman, President of the Colorectal Cancer Coalition released the following statement today following the announcement of the 2010-2011 Committee:

“The Colorectal Cancer Coalition is thrilled that LaRisha Baker, Rochelle Joseph, Carol Larson, Arlene Murphy, Doug Sharp, and Josh Wimberly will be joining our 2010-2011 Grassroots Action Committee.  This distinguished group of survivors and caregivers will help us continue the push for research funding, awareness campaigns, access to screening, and treatment coverage.  Colorectal cancer advocates who speak up and demand a change in current colorectal cancer policy will be the ones who make a difference in the fight against this disease.”

Read more about the 2010-2011 Grassroots Action Committee.

Join us on September 20th from 8 to 9 pm for a webinar designed to help you make the best choice for you and your own needs.

Dr. John Marshall from the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center will join Kim Ryan and Kate Murphy to explore this controversial topic.

Register here for:  Stage II Colon Cancer: Chemo or Not? Find Your Solution.

While adjuvant chemotherapy after surgery is not routinely recommended for all patients with stage II colon cancer, there are some patients at higher risk of cancer spreading (recurrence) who may benefit from chemo.  And some patients, after discussing possible risks and potential benefits with their doctors will want to have chemo even if their benefit may be small.

During the webinar we’ll be looking at:

• What makes stage II colon cancer stage II.
• What current  guidelines and research for stage II chemotherapy say.
• How to figure out the benefit numbers and what they mean.
• What tumor features make a stage II diagnosis high risk.
• What are some features that make people at lower than average risk for recurrence.
• How doctors talk with patients to help them with decisions about chemo or no chemo.

There will be time for questions.

Staging Image courtesy of the National Cancer Institute

C3′s Grassroots Action Committee Chair Pam Seijo, Grassroots Action Committee Members Florence Kurttila, Arlene Murphy, and Ed Murphy, along with C3 advocates Patti Hollenback, Cindy Robinson, and Regan Weaver are all participating in the annual One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) Lobby Day.

Follow us on Twitter @FightCRCAdvocacy for the latest updates from the hill.

During their meetings today, C3 advocates will be asking Congress to support the following funding requests for fiscal year 2011:

• $35.2 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• $5.79 billion for National Cancer Institute (NCI)
• $240 million for the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD)
• $601 million for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) cancer programs
• $50 million for CDC’s National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program
• $50 million for CDC’s Colorectal Cancer Screening, Education & Outreach Initiative
• $65 million for CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries
• $2.857 billion for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

This year we have a unique opportunity to demonstrate the tremendous advances made in the fight against cancer thanks to recent increases in federal funding and urging Congress to build on this progress.  Want to help us?  Register today as a C3 advocate and we will keep you posted on future opportunities to make your voice heard in the fight against colorectal cancer.

C3 President Carlea Bauman, Rep. Dan Boren, and C3 Grassroots Action Committee Chair Pam Seijo

This morning, C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition met with Representative Dan Boren (OK-2) to present him with our 2010 Congressional Champion Award.

C3 President Carlea Bauman and Grassroots Action Committee Chair Pam Seijo met with Representative Boren to present him with the award for his efforts to increase the availability of colorectal cancer screening and treatment as well as for his work to increase funding for colorectal cancer research.

After receiving the 2010 Congressional Champion Award, Representative Boren issued the following statement:

“As with many Oklahomans, my family unfortunately has experienced the pain and fear of losing a loved one to cancer. Eleven years ago I lost my mother, Janna, to colon cancer.  While serving in Congress, I have made it a priority to raise awareness about colorectal cancer and to author legislation that increases citizens’ opportunities for early detention and screening for this highly preventable disease. I thank C3 for this honor.”

Past recipients of the C3 Congressional Champion Award include Representative Kay Granger (TX-12) and Senator Ben Cardin (MD).

Some headlines from this issue:

• Palliative Care: Not Just for End of Life
• Listening to the Little Voice
• Patient to Patient Advice for Caregivers
• Health Care Reform & Cancer: Your Implementation Guide

You’ll also read testimonials from advocates who attended the C3 Call-on Congress in March and learn about the young, innovative researcher who is looking into new treatments for late stage colorectal cancer, thanks to a grant from C3.

To receive Momentum free at home, sign up at the C3 Action Center.

Learn more about the research presented at the meeting. Register for our webinar on Monday, June 21 at 8 pm.

A gala dinner is planned for June 2 at the Westin Boston Waterfront beginning at 6 p.m.

C3 advocate Marilia Sardinha will accept the award on behalf of C3 staff and advocates.

The one hundred is an annual fundraiser for the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center, honoring one hundred individuals and groups whose diligence and discoveries, philanthropy and passion have helped advance the fight against cancer. Funds raised at the gala will support the Cancer Center’s patient care, research, education and community outreach programs.

In choosing C3 as for the One Hundred honor, the program sponsors wrote:

“The Colorectal Cancer Coalition (C3) is a nonprofit advocacy organization that supports legislation, research and education to improve screening, diagnosis and treatment of colorectal cancer — one of the few cancers that can be prevented by early detection. C3 also promotes policies that make these life-saving clinical services available to all.

“Founded in 2005 and headquartered near Washington, D.C., C3 has already made progress by lobbying Congress and training advocates to help push important legislation. For example, a Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program in the Department of Defense was established as part of the FY2010 Defense Appropriations Bill. This program designates $15 million for research that includes studies in colorectal cancer.

“C3 is now promoting legislation to establish a National Colorectal Cancer Screening Program, a giant step in preventive care that promises to save countless lives and substantially reduce the nation’s healthcare costs.

“C3’s public education resources include a professionally staffed, toll-free answer line, a web site and a newsletter.”

Ms. Bauman thanked the Subcommittee members for including $15 million for the Department of Defense (DoD)’s Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) in the fiscal year 2010 bill and urged them to increase the level of funding for the PRCRP to $50 million in fiscal year 2011.

C3 is making the request for funding along with other advocacy groups representing the eight research areas in the PRCRP.  The program, funded through the DoD’s Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) supports high-quality cancer research, concentrating its resources on mechanisms which complement rather than duplicate the research approaches of the major funders of medical research in the United States.

The PRCRP also represents a unique partnership among the public, Congress, and the military.  Congress has required the DoD to ensure that the research funded through the program has relevance to service members and their families.  The research can help service members exposed to toxins and decrease the more than $1 billion that the DoD spends on cancer care.

Although the cancers included in this program are diverse, the research on these disease types is often synergistic. Advances or progress related to one cancer fuels the research on the other cancers in this program, and treatments initially approved for one cancer are routinely found to be effective in others.

In her testimony, Ms. Bauman advised the Subcommittee that areas of focus for colorectal cancer research in the PRCRP could be:

• An inexpensive, non-invasive, accurate screening test;
• Predictive markers to identify who will benefit from which treatments; and
• Accurate diagnostics that can evaluate the markers.

Discoveries resulting from investment in PRCRP research have the potential to transform the investigation of cancer, through the development of new prevention strategies and therapies, and someday, cures.  A $50 million investment will greatly enhance and accelerate such breakthroughs.  It is an opportunity to advance the best research to eradicate diseases and support the warfighter for the benefit of the American public.

Ms. Bauman’s complete testimony is available online here.

A list of the other witnesses who testified at the hearing is available here.

Rona Yaeger MD

Rona Yaeger, MD is the 2010 Lisa Dubow Research Fellow, receiving the 2010 American Association for Cancer Research – Colorectal Cancer Coalition Fellows Grant.

The Award will be made tonight at a special dinner in honor of AACR Fellows Fund grantees.

Dr. Yaeger is from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York.  Her grant research will focus on inhibiting the AKT pathway in colorectal cancer cells.

She will be doing basic research to determine how inhibitors to the pathway might affect cells of patients who have mutated KRAS and are resistant to EGFR inhibiting drugs. Dr. Yaeger will also be conducting a phase II clinical trial with an AKT inhibitor for patients with metastatic colorectal who have normal KRAS.

The C3 “Lisa Fund” was created in memory of Lisa Dubow, a founder of C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition who was 42 years old when she was diagnosed with stage III colorectal cancer. Ms. Dubow credited cutting-edge research and clinical trials with helping her survive her colorectal cancer for nine years before her death in 2007.

The Lisa Fund supports researchers who are dedicated to developing treatments for patients with late stage colorectal cancer. Through the Lisa Fund, C3 has partnered with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) as part of its Fellows Grants Program to attract and reward cutting-edge researchers.

In accepting the award, Dr. Yaeger said,

I am very excited to receive this grant in support of my research and grateful for the opportunity to become an independent researcher. This research supports idea targeted therapies in colon cancer and it is my hope that we can rapidly translate the understanding of pathways important in cell growth for the treatment of colon cancer and to better the lives of colon cancer patients.

Dr. Yaeger joins Dr. Yaguang Xi and Dr. Jeffrey Chou as Lisa Fund Research Fellows.