Lifesaving Legislation

Lifesaving Legislation

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network calls on the 112th Congress to help us make progress against the fourth leading cancer killer by:

1. Enacting and fully funding the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act (S. 362/H.R. 733).

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers. 94\% of patients will die within five years of diagnosis - only 6\% survive more than five years and 74\% of pancreatic cancer patients die within the first year of diagnosis. These statistics have changed little in the last 40 years.

This disease is also severely under-researched and under-funded. Unlike many cancers, there are no early detection tools or effective treatments for pancreatic cancer. Part of the problem is that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) allocates approximately 2\% of its $5 billion budget for pancreatic cancer research, and according to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's new report "Pancreatic Cancer: A trickle of federal funding for a river of need. Why survival rates for pancreatic cancer have remained in the single digits for 40 years," pancreatic cancer is behind in nearly every important grant mechanism funded by the NCI.

Recognizing that the time has come to make true progress on this deadly disease, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has worked with Congress to develop the first-ever substantive legislation that will lead to the creation of a federally supported strategic plan and increased resources for pancreatic cancer research.

The legislation, called the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act, is based on the National Plan to Advance Pancreatic Cancer Research, a report developed by the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's Scientific Advisory Board. The bill was introduced in the 112th Congress on February 16th, 2011 by U.S. Representatives Anna Eshoo (D-CA) and Leonard Lance (R-NJ) as H.R. 733. The Senate companion bill, S. 362, was introduced by U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) on the same day. We are currently working on building support for the bills by encouraging other U.S. Representatives and U.S. Senators to become co-sponsors.

2. Ensuring that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has sufficient funding to allow for progress in diseases like pancreatic cancer by supporting continued growth in the NCI budget for FY2012.

The federal government is by far the primary funder of cancer research. Due to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's efforts, federal funding for pancreatic cancer research through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has dramatically increased in the last decade, yet it is still far below the levels needed to make true progress. Unfortunately, the fact is that when adjusted for inflation, the NCI's budget has decreased by almost 15\% since Fiscal Year 2003. We not only need more money for the NCI, but need to ensure that more of the NCI's funding is focused on pancreatic cancer research, which currently receives approximately 2\% of the NCI's $5 billion budget. The current funding levels are simply not sufficient to make true progress against a disease that is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death.

To accomplish this, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network educates Members of Congress about pancreatic cancer and the specific challenges our research community face. We also join our partners in One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC), a coalition of more than 40 cancer-related organizations interested in increasing federal funding for cancer research, to call for specific funding levels for the NIH and NCI.

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The Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act
The dedicated effort to know, fight and end pancreatic cancer.

We make progress against diseases by doing two things: 1) raising private funds for groundbreaking research and 2) focusing federal research dollars on a comprehensive strategy to know it, fight it and end it. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is doing their part. They need your help to get the federal government to do its part.

Working with visionary Members of Congress and our Scientific Advisory Board, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network developed The Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act (S.362/HR 733). If passed, it will provide the National Cancer Institute (NCI) with the tools and resources to develop something America has never had: a dedicated strategy for researching pancreatic cancer and quickly moving newly gained knowledge into action.

After almost 40 years with no significant progress, its time for a dedicated strategy on pancreatic cancerone that will help us to know it, fight it, and end it. One that will help us save countless lives now and in the future. We need Congress to act to ensure that NCI directly addresses the research needs for pancreatic cancer. The Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act makes sure the federal government invests our scarce research dollars in the areas where progress is most needed.

The Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act has been introduced in Congress but has not passed because legislators have not yet made it a priority.