Legislation in Congress will help raise money for colorectal cancer research without increasing federal spending.
Representative Charlie Dent
Pennsylvania congressman Charlie Dent has introduced a bill that would direct the U.S. Postal Service to sell a semipostal stamp to raise money for federally funded colorectal cancer research and prevention programs. Semipostal stamps are regular postage stamps that are sold at a surcharge over their postage value. The additional charge is a voluntary contribution by the purchaser to a designated cause.
Under the “Fight Colorectal Cancer Stamp Act” (H.R. 893), funds raised from a semipostal colorectal cancer stamp would be used for colorectal cancer programs at the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health.
Rep. Dent is working to identify a path for passage of the bill and Fight Colorectal Cancer is attempting to identify a champion for companion legislation in the Senate. Passage of H.R. 893 will not be easy; therefore, Rep. Dent needs our help.
H.R. 893 was introduced in March 2011 and, to date, has only eight cosponsors. If Rep. Dent is to convince House leaders to advance H.R. 893, he must be able to show strong support for the bill among his House colleagues.
Please take a moment today to contact your representative and ask him or her to cosponsor H.R. 893.
Passage of H.R. 893 may be one of our best opportunities to maintain, and perhaps even increase, funding for colorectal cancer programs in the foreseeable future. However, without more cosponsors, the bill’s prospects are not good. You can help change that.
September 25, 2011 at 8:03 am, Michelle Bowen said:
Thank you for doing this. My grandmother passed away from colorectal cancer at 64 and my aunt is in stage 4 of the same cancer at 57 years old.
September 26, 2011 at 12:47 pm, Kate Murphy said:
Michelle,
With your family history, you should seriously consider finding out if there is an inherited Lynch syndrome mutation in your family.
Your aunt is the best person to start with since she has been diagnosed. A screening test of her tumor for MSI — microsatellite instability — is the first step. High MSI doesn’t definitely mean there is a Lynch mutation, but all Lynch tumors have MSI.
A definitive test, if MSI is high, would be a blood test to see if your aunt carries a “germline” mutation for Lynch syndrome — a change she has had since birth in one of the genes that can cause colorectal cancer (MLH1,MSH2,MSH6, or PMS2).
If so, she may have received the mutation from your grandmother. Your own mother may or may not have it. The risk of passing on a germline Lynch mutation is 50-50.
A genetic counselor can help your family decide next steps.