“As someone who is committed to winning the fight against cancer, I was pleased to hear the President talk about the importance of innovation. However, it is counterproductive to proclaim that ‘this is our generation’s Sputnik moment’ while calling for a spending freeze for domestic programs.

Now is not the time for across the board cuts to domestic spending. If we are going to find a cure for cancer in our lifetimes, we need a sustained investment in proven research programs – programs that encourage innovation and ensure discoveries make it from bench to bedside as quickly as possible.

On behalf of the thousands of Americans who will be diagnosed with colorectal cancer this year and on behalf of the millions of Americans living with colorectal cancer I urge the President and Congress to renew the fight against cancer with smart and sustained investments in biomedical research that will not only save thousands of lives but encourage innovation and help stimulate the economy by creating much-needed jobs.”

- Carlea Bauman, President of the Colorectal Cancer Coalition

Forty years ago when President Nixon signed the National Cancer Act into law we didn’t understand how a normal cell becomes a cancer cell. Since 1971, we have invested millions and made great advances in biomedical research.

Over the last forty years, we’ve seen a transformation in how we treat cancer from treatments that don’t distinguish between healthy and cancerous cells to more effective, targeted therapies. Scientists working on the Cancer Genome Atlas are building a comprehensive database of the DNA changes associated with 20 major tumor types and we can look forward to the day when cancer treatments are tailored to the specific DNA changes in each patient’s tumor.

To date, the growth in knowledge about cancer biology and genetics is perhaps the greatest success of the national cancer effort since passage of the National Cancer Act.

But we have a long way to go. Cancer still remains a leading cause of death in the United States.

This year over 560,000 Americans will die from cancer – almost one every minute.

Now is not the time for across the board cuts to domestic spending. Americans recognize the importance of federal support for cancer research regardless of the economic climate. Nearly nine in ten respondents (89 percent) to a national nonpartisan poll of households with a history of cancer, think it is important that the President and Congress increase funding for cancer research and related programs. The survey, commissioned by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, also found that support for federal cancer research funding is high regardless of party affiliation, with 85 percent of Republicans, 87 percent of independents, and 96 percent of Democrats polled responding favorably.

Today’s investments in cancer research are the key to addressing tomorrow’s public health and economic crises. Last year, colorectal cancer cost the US economy $14 billion. Cancer incidence is projected to nearly double by 2020, particularly among the baby boomer population. As these rates climb so too will the cost to our economy.

In one of his first addresses to Congress, President Obama called for, ‘a new effort to conquer a disease that has touched the life of nearly every American by seeking a cure for cancer in our time.’

We will be working hard to make sure that the President and Congress live up to that call, and the fight against cancer doesn’t get lost in the push to cut spending. We can’t lose ground in the fight against cancer by reducing spending for life-saving research.

Tonight, September 10 at 8PM Eastern/7PM Central, ABC, NBC, CBS, and FOX will join in a simultaneous broadcast to Stand Up to Cancer. HBO, Discovery Health, E!, MLB Network and The Style Network will also carry the show this year.

Stars from television, movies, music and sports will join cancer survivors in an effort to raise money for cancer research.

Diane Sawyer says,

The broadcast is a way of saying, ‘Together, we can do this’ And yes, we’re losing one person every minute, but 11 million survivors are out there; living proof that this can be done. It will also be an opportunity for everybody to figure out concrete ways that they can do the things that they connect to the most strongly.

100 percent of donations raised by SU2C will used for cutting-edge cancer research, including directly funding innovative, high-risk, proposals that often are not supported by conventional funding sources, but have the potential to improve the lives of cancer patients.

Nearly $75 million in funds raised during the 2008 broadcast are supporting five Dream Teams that take a collaborative approach to solving critical cancer problems.  Teams include more than 300 researchers from 20 institutions as well as patient advocates.

In addition, almost $10 million is dedicated to the work of young cancer scientists doing innovative research.  The SU2C Innovative Research Program was established in honor of the late Judah Folkman.

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the scientific partner for SU2C, reviewing proposals and overseeing grants through its Scientific Advisory Committee.

Colorectal Cancer Coalition Chair Nancy Roach chairs the Stand Up to Cancer Advocacy Advisory Council. The Council brings the patient and family perspective to cancer issues important to the project.

The AACR-SU2C Clinical Trials Navigator will have extended hours during the broadcast and the following weekend.  You can reach them at 1-877-769-4829.

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.

You may not be able to travel to DC in March to participate in the 2010 Call-on Congress, but this is your chance to meet with your representatives and talk with them about the importance of increasing federal funding for cancer research.

We currently have meetings scheduled with House Budget Committee Ranking Member Paul Ryan in Kenosha, WI on February 11, with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Las Vegas, NV on February 16, and with House Republican Leader John Boehner in West Chester, OH on February 23.  And, we are in the process of confirming additional meetings.

If you would like to attend a meeting, please contact Catherine Knowles at Catherine.Knowles@FightCRC.org, and we will get you all the details and background information that you need.

The President’s budget for FY2011, includes some funding increases for cancer research at NIH and NCI but it also proposes reductions in funding for cancer control programs at the CDC.  Read more about funding for cancer research and control programs in the President’s FY2011 budget.

As Congress begins the FY2011 budget process, it is important that we remind Members about the importance of federal funding for cancer research and cancer control programs.  If you are able, I hope you will attend a meeting with your representative over the President’s Day District Work Period.

• Make reducing the cancer burden a national priority.
• Ensure that all Americans have timely access to needed health care and disease prevention measures.
• End the scourge of tobacco in the United States.

The President’s Cancer Panel was created with the passage of the National Cancer Act in 1971. Its three members have a responsibility to report on barriers to full implementation of the National Cancer Program and make recommendations to overcome them.  Panel members responsible for the 2007-2008 Report were:

• LaSalle D. Leffall, Jr., M.D., F.A.C.S., of the Howard University College of Medicine
• Margaret L. Kripke, Ph.D., of The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center,
• Lance Armstrong, cancer survivor and founder of the Lance Armstrong Foundation

In February 2008, President Bush appointed Joe Torre, a cancer survivor and Los Angeles Dodgers manager to replace Lance Armstrong.

Four in ten people in the United States will develop cancer at some point in their lives.  In 2008 more than 1.4 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer and 565,000 will die.

However, despite the growing US burden of cancer, in developing the 2007-2008 recommendations for the President, the Panel pointed out disturbing trends:

• A declining cancer research budget
• Avoidable inefficiencies and poor collaboration among governmental, voluntary, industry, and academic organizations working on cancer research
• Questions about the appropriate focus and emphasis on cancer research in light of current cancer trends
• An aging and increasingly sedentary population
• A more and more fragmented and unsustainable health care system
• An increasing number of uninsured, underinsured, and underserved Americans due to a steady erosion of public and private health care coverage
• Continued tobacco use, reduced cancer control funding, and increased tobacco marketing targeting young people, women, and other vulnerable groups
• Complacency and a lack of understanding and sense of urgency among policymakers, the research and health communities, and the public about the growing burden of cancer

In their Executive Summary, the Panel challenged Americans and their leaders to make cancer an urgent priority saying,

It no longer is acceptable to say that because cancer is complex, disparities in care are entrenched, and the tobacco companies are powerful, we cannot solve the problem of cancer in America. We can. But to do so, cancer must become a national priority—one that is guided by strong leadership; fueled by adequate funding and productive collaboration and compromise among governments, industry, and institutions; and embraced by individuals who understand and accept their personal role in preventing cancer and in demanding meaningful progress.

Thoughts from Kate

I am one of that forty percent of Americans whose life has been touched by cancer — too many times in my own life and that of my family and friends.

I welcome the strong words of the President’s Cancer Panel, and I hope that despite the frightening financial crisis we find ourselves in, the pressure of two costly wars, and a change in Washington leadership, we will listen and learn!

By letting government funding for cancer research stagnate, we are literally eating our seed corn.  There is exciting research going on, but it cannot continue without the brains and vision of young researchers.  However, as the Panel points out, they are being forced out of cancer research by dwindling funding and lack of opportunities for their careers to grow.

We know how to prevent many colorectal cancers and find others early . . . but millions of Americans cannot access the simplest screening tests because they have no insurance.

Cancer is a war that we can win.  I believe that with my whole heart, and I spend many hours each day working on the struggle to win it.  I urge you all — citizens, researchers, legislators, President — to join Dr. Leffall, Dr. Kripke, Lance Armstrong, Joe Torre and me in the fight.

SU2C is a national effort to raise substantial monies for ground-breaking translational cancer research that will accelerate advances in patient care as well as in cancer prevention.   A program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation, SU2C was established by a group of media, entertainment, and philanthropic leaders whose lives have all been affected by cancer in significant ways. They have partnered with American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) to provide expert scientific oversight of this important initiative.

The centerpiece of this initiative will be a nationally televised fundraising event to air on September 5, 2008.  The networks have joined together in an unprecedented collaboration to donate one hour of simultaneous, commercial-free prime time for this program.

SU2C will bring together the major television networks, entertainment industry executives, celebrities and prominent leaders of the cancer research and advocacy communities to work in a way that will transcend the barriers that have traditionally inhibited creativity and collaboration. Its distinctive approach to research is designed to enable collaboration across institutions and groups by funding research projects conducted by interdisciplinary, multi-institutional, translational and clinical research “dream teams” as well as high-risk, high-impact Innovative Research Grants.

The AACR will lead the scientific review of the research projects, oversee the management of team science projects, and administer the funds raised under the direction of an expert Scientific Advisory Committee chaired by Nobel Laureate Phillip A. Sharp, Ph.D.   A description of the SU2C funding model can be found here.

In addition to C3, approximately 25 other key advocacy organizations are part of the SU2C Advocate Advisory Council, which will serve as a critical resource for the project. Examples of C3’s participation include suggesting ways to enhance this national initiative and electing two members annually to serve on the Scientific Advisory Committee which will determine the funding direction and approve the research proposals. A broad description of Council members’ roles and responsibilities can be found here.