The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) says that declining budgets at the National Institutes of Health a crisis standing in the way of bringing cancer research to patient’s lives.

For the past ten years, NIH budgets have been essentially flat.  Factoring in rising research costs, flat funding means a loss of nearly $6 billion dollars in purchasing power.

AACR is calling on its members and the advocacy community to work even harder with Congress to invest in medical research.  The AACR board of directors said,

Therefore, the AACR announced this morning that it plans to redouble its efforts to engage with Congress to make research funding a higher national priority, raise public awareness of the importance of continued investment in cancer research, and call on its 34,000 members and broader advocacy community constituencies to join together to help better explain and illustrate the value of cancer research and biomedical science to the economic health and well-being of this nation.

AACR President Judy E. Garber, MD, MPH said,

We already see the effects on our most precious resource, young investigators. This is potentially disastrous, as we are relying on them to ensure the continuing pipeline of new discoveries that will have ever greater impact on the welfare of patients and the public health.

AACR is holding its 2012 annual meeting in Chicago this week – Accelerating Science: Concept to Clinic.

Embryonic Stem Cells (Image Courtesy of MedicineWorld.org)

This afternoon, a federal appeals court lifted an injunction that barred the federal government from funding human embryonic stem cell research pending the outcome of a lawsuit challenging the Obama administration’s new policies on the controversial field of science.  The decision today to lift the injunction means the NIH can continue funding embryonic stem cell research as the original case works its way through the court process.

Today’s decision lifts the temporary injunction ordered on August 23 by U.S. District Judge Lamberth. Ruling in a case filed by two scientists working on alternatives to the cells, Lamberth found that federal funding of embryonic stem cell research violates long-standing law prohibiting federal tax money from being used for research that involves the destruction of human embryos.

The Obama Administration appealed the August 23 ruling, and on September 9 the federal appeals court had temporarily allowed the research to resume – a decision we applauded. Carlea Bauman, President of the Colorectal Cancer Coalition issued the following statement after the September 9 ruling,

“We applaud the Court of Appeals for its action. Embryonic stem cell research plays an important role in the scientific battle against many diseases – and federal funding is vital to this type of research. We urge Congress to act quickly so that not another day is wasted.”

While today’s decision is very good news for the research community, the final outcome of this case remains uncertain.  The Colorectal Cancer Coalition will continue to push for legislation to allow federal support of ethical and life-saving research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo.

This afternoon the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia lifted a temporary injunction barring the federal government from funding research involving human embryonic stem cell research. The Court said that the federal government could resume funding the research pending a full appeal of the case.

Carlea Bauman, President of the Colorectal Cancer Coaliton issued the following statement after the ruling,

“We applaud the Court of Appeals for its action. Embryonic stem cell research plays an important role in the scientific battle against many diseases – and federal funding is vital to this type of research. We urge Congress to act quickly so that not another day is wasted.”

Today’s ruling was issued because on Aug 23 U.S. District Judge Lamberth issued a ruling in a lawsuit filed by two researchers (Sherley v. Sebelius) working on alternatives to the cells, finding that the funding violated a federal rule that prohibits federal tax money from being used for research that involves the destruction of human embryos. Judge Lamberth’s ruling dealt a blow to a promising area of biomedical research.

In response to the ruling, the National Institutes of Health announced it was suspending consideration of any new grants for such research. Any researchers who had already received funding could continue their work, but their grants would not be renewed when they come up for routine review.

After the Aug 23 ruling, the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research (CAMR) (the Colorectal Cancer Coalition is a member of CAMR) filed an amicus brief with Judge Lamberth bringing to the court’s attention publicly available documents and other materials so that the Court has the opportunity to take into consideration CAMR members’ best interests and the need for federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. CAMR and its members are committed to this issue and will fight to restore federal funding for this important research that offers the promise of better treatments and cures for so many.

Here’s an excerpt from today’s order:

O R D E R
Upon consideration of the emergency motion for stay pending appeal and for immediate administrative stay, it is

ORDERED that the district court’s August 23, 2010 order be stayed pending further order of the court. The purpose of this administrative stay is to give the court sufficient opportunity to consider the merits of the emergency motion for stay and should not be construed in any way as a ruling on the merits of that motion. See D.C. Circuit Handbook of Practice and Internal Procedures 33 (2010). It is

FURTHER ORDERED that appellees file a response to the emergency motion by September 14, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. The appellants may file a reply by 4:00 p.m. on September 20, 2010. The parties are directed to hand-deliver the paper copies of their submissions to the court by the time and date due.

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), who has long-championed allowing federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, said she expected Congress would soon consider legislation to codify the Obama stem cell policy.  Rep. DeGette’s bill – the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2009 (H.R. 873) – would allow federal support of research that utilizes human embryonic stem cells regardless of the date on which the stem cells were derived from a human embryo. Stem cell lines must meet ethical guidelines established by the NIH, which would be issued within 60 days of enactment.

“Given the potentially devastating blow this court case could give to ethical research, I think the momentum is strong for passing legislation,” DeGette said.

During meetings today with their Senators and Representatives, C3 advocates will be sharing their personal stories and urging Congress to make federal funding for cancer a top priority.

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.

Today, C3 advocates arrive in DC to participate in the annual One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) Lobby Day.  Follow us on Twitter @FightCRCAdvocacy for the latest updates from DC.

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 will be heading to Capitol Hill tomorrow to talk to Congress about the importance of increasing federal funding for cancer research and cancer control programs.

Today, the advocates will be getting advice from former Representative Bud Cramer and from a number of Congressional health staff, including:

• Anne Morris, Professional Staff, House Committee on Energy and Commerce
• Jeremy Sharp, Legislative Director, Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT)
• Adrienne Hallett, Professional Staff, Senate Appropriations Committee, Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services

The training the advocates receive today will get them ready to take on Congress tomorrow during meetings with their Senators and Representatives.  C3 is participating in the OVAC Lobby Day along with numerous other cancer advocacy groups.  Interested in learning more about the OVAC coalition?  Check out their website.

As a member of the One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) we are pleased to be participating in the annual OVAC Lobby Day.  Join us in June as we head to the hill to ask Congress to increase funding for cancer research.

Important Dates:

• May 12, 2010 – Last day to submit scholarship application
• May 24, 2010 – Last day to register for OVAC Lobby Day
• May 24, 2010 – Last day to reserve a hotel room at the special OVAC rate
• June 16, 2010 – Lobby Day begins at 12:00 PM
• June 17, 2010 – Lobby Day ends at 5:00 PM

Location: The Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel (415 New Jersey Avenue NW, Washington, DC  20001)

OVAC has negotiated a discounted room rate of $269 a night at the The Liaison Capitol Hill hotel, and all training sessions will be held at this hotel.

Register today for the OVAC Lobby Day.

During the Lobby Day, you will be going to the hill to ask Members of Congress to support increased funding for cancer research.  Specifically, you will be asking Members to support the following funding requests:

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) – $35.2 billion ($4.2 billion (13.5%) over FY 2010)
• National Cancer Institute (NCI) – $5.79 billion ($691 million (13.5%) over FY 2010)
• National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHD) – $240 million ($29 million (13.5%) over FY 2010)
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control (CDC) – $601 million ($126 million (26%) over FY 2010)
• CDC’s National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program – $50 million ($29 million over FY 2010)
• CDC’s National Program of Cancer Registries – $65 million ($14 million over FY 2010)
• CDC’s Colorectal Cancer Screening, Education & Outreach Initiative – $50 million ($5 million over FY 2010)
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – $2.857 billion ($500 million (21%) over FY 2010)

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.  Register today to let your voice be heard regarding the importance of increased funding for cancer research.

Register today for the OVAC Lobby Day.

The registration deadline is May 24, 2010.  When you register, you will be asked to select a participant type.  You should select “OVAC Partners” and be sure to identify yourself as a C3 advocate.  If you have any problems with the registration form, or would like additional information about the OVAC Lobby Day please contact Catherine Knowles at Catherine.Knowles@FightCRC.org.

The fiscal year 2011 budget process got underway today when President Obama sent Congress his budget proposal.  The President’s $3.8 trillion budget includes a three-year freeze on non-security discretionary spending in order to save about $250 billion over 10 years and start narrowing the $1.6 trillion gap between proposed budget outlays and tax receipts.  The freeze caps the overall level of spending so that some programs get increases (for example, cancer research at NIH and NCI receives a funding increase), while other programs (including some of the cancer control programs at the CDC) are cut.  The freeze comes on top of a proposal to eliminate, or scale back, 120 programs in order to save more than $20 billion.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued the following statement of support,

“[u]nder this budget, we will provide the health and human services that Americans depend on more effectively, slashing waste and focusing programs on results.  And we’ll make many of the necessary investments our country has been putting off for years, including investments in fighting health care fraud, strengthening our public health infrastructure, and getting serious about health and wellness,” said Sebelius. “This budget is a big step toward a healthier, stronger America.”

The President’s budget includes $32.09 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  The proposed funding level for NIH would be an increase of $1 billion (3.2 percent) over last year to support innovative projects from basic to clinical research.  The increase in funding for the NIH will allow the agency to initiate 30 new drug trials in 2011, and double the number of novel compounds in Phase 1 – 3 clinical trials by 2016.  In addition, FY 2011 funding will support the completion of a comprehensive catalog of cancer mutations for the 20 most common malignancies, setting the stage for complete genomic characterization of every cancer as part of medical care within 10 years.

The NIH budget includes:

• $5.26 billion for the National Cancer Institute – an increase of $161 million (3.16 percent); and
• $219 million for the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities – a $7 million increase (3.5 percent).

The President’s FY 2011 budget proposal also provides $2.5 billion for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) – an increase of $148 million (6.26 percent) over last year.  The funding increases for the FDA include increases to bring more lower cost generic drugs and generic biologics to market as well as funding to expand post-market safety surveillance of medical products, and to support FDA’s efforts to make safety data more comprehensive and accessible to patients, providers, and scientists.

That is the good news.

The bad news is the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) budget.  The President’s FY 2011 budget proposal reduces funding for CDC cancer prevention and control programs, including the Office of Smoking and Health, by $19 million (3.9 percent) below last year’s funded level.  Specifically, the National Breast and Cervical Early Detection Program is cut by $4 million (2 percent) and the Office of Smoking and Health is cut by more than $3 million (3.2 percent).

The CDC’s Colorectal Cancer Screening, Education & Outreach program is funded at $45 million.  This is the same level the program was funded at for fiscal year 2010.

Two CDC cancer control programs are eliminated under the President’s budget.  The Geraldine Ferraro Blood Cancer Program, which received $4.7 million in FY 2010, and the Gynecologic Cancer and Education and Awareness (Johanna’s Law) Program, which received $6.8 million in FY 2010, are zeroed out under the President’s FY 2011 budget proposal.

The fiscal year 2010 Labor-HHS-Education portion of the omnibus appropriations conference report funds the Colorectal Cancer Screening, Education and Outreach program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at $45 million.  This is a $6 million increase over fiscal year 2009 (14.3 percent increase).

We need your help to get Congress to continue to increase funding for colorectal cancer programs next year!  Register now to join us at the 2010 Call-on Congress, and continue reading for more details on fiscal year 2010 funding for cancer programs and research.

The conference report includes $74 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services – an increase of $6.3 billion or 8.5 percent over last year.

In addition to the $45 million in funding for colorectal cancer programs at the CDC, the conference report includes an increase of $30 million over fiscal year 2009 (8.8 percent increase) for CDC cancer prevention and control programs.

It includes $31 billion in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  The funding for NIH is a $692 million increase over fiscal year 2009 (22.3 percent increase).

The funding for NIH includes $5.1 billion for the National Cancer Institute, a 2.8 percent increase over fiscal year 2009, and $212 million for the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, a 2.7 percent increase over fiscal year 2009.

Bill text is available online along with the manager’s statement (this is the part of the bill that includes earmark funding).

Although the fiscal year ended on September 30, to-date Congress has only completed 5 of the 12 annual appropriations bills.  This week, Congress moved forward with a couple of important steps and it looks like they are now on track to complete the remaining 7 bills before the end of the year.

Yesterday evening, House and Senate appropriators met to consider a conference report.  The report is an omnibus package that includes six of the fiscal year 2010 appropriations bills.  It includes: (1) the Labor, Health and Human Services Appropriations bill (this is the bill that funds a number of cancer programs through NIH, CDC, and NCI); (2) the Commerce Justice Science Appropriations bill; (3) the Financial Services Appropriations bill; (4) the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill; (5) the Department of State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill; and (6) the Transportation and Housing Appropriations bill.  The bill text is available online along with the manager’s statement (this is the part of the bill that includes earmark funding).

The conference report includes nearly $450 billion in spending for fiscal year 2010, and could come to the floor for a vote in the House as early as tomorrow.

Although very large, this first conference report does not include the Department of Defense Appropriations bill.  A second package will be needed expected to complete consideration of the defense bill before the current continuing resolution expires on December 18.

House and Senate appropriators are scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon to consider this second conference report that will include fiscal year 2010 funding for the Department of Defense.  This second conference report is expected to include the funding C3 requested for a new peer reviewed cancer research program to focus on colorectal cancer research.  In addition to funding for the Department of Defense, this second conference report is expected to include a jobs package using TARP money, an estate tax fix, an extension of the highway trust fund, and an increase of the debt limit.

The second appropriations conference report will be considered on the floor in the House next week.

The Senate will take up both conference reports after the House passes them. This timetable will allow Congress to send the bills to the President and wrap up consideration of all the fiscal year appropriations bills before the end of the year.

Today, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced the approval of the first 13* human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines for use in NIH-funded research.  Children’s Hospital in Boston developed 11 of the approved lines and Rockefeller University in New York City developed two additional lines.

All of the approved lines were obtained from embryos left over by couples seeking treatment for infertility who consented to their use for research under the NIH’s Guidelines for Human Stem Cell Research.

In making the announcement, NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., said

“I am happy to say that we now have human embryonic stem cell lines eligible for use by our research community under our new stem cell policy. In accordance with the guidelines, these stem cell lines were derived from embryos that were donated under ethically sound informed consent processes. More lines are under review now, and we anticipate continuing to expand this list of responsibly derived lines eligible for NIH funding.”

More than 30 NIH grants funded in the 2009 fiscal year totaling more than $20 million proposed to use hESCs. These grants have been restricted until approved lines became available on the NIH registry. This group of grants includes research using hESCs for the therapeutic regeneration of diseased or damaged heart muscle cells, developing systems for the production of neural stem cells and different types of neurons from hESCs in culture, and developing a cell culture system for the large scale production and self-renewal of hESCs.

With today’s announcement and following NIH approval, these grantees may obtain registry-listed hESCs, if they are appropriate for their project, from the owners of the lines and proceed with their research.

The NIH Human Embryonic Stem Cell Registry of approved hESCs is available online. You can also obtain additional resources and more information on stem cells and NIH research from the NIH online.

C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition believes that stem cell research holds promise for expanding medical breakthroughs, and we support federal funding and policies that will give the researchers the tools they need to fight cancer and other diseases. That is why in January 2007, we chose to add our name to a letter that was sent to the US Senate and House of Representatives and signed by over 500 patient advocacy groups, health organizations, research universities, scientific societies, and religious groups.  Read more about C3’s support for stem cell research.

An additional 96 lines have been submitted to NIH for either internal administrative review or consideration by the external Working Group for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Eligibility Review and the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), including more than 20 that will be considered by the ACD on December 4.

We will keep you updated on any new developments.

*Since this information was released, the number of available stem cell lines increased to 27.