us congress addresses need for increased research funding targeting ovarian cancer risk...

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y 109 (2008) 10

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US Congress addresses need for increased research funding targetingovarian cancer risk stratification and early detection

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Armed with statistical data that ovarian cancer ranks fifth incancer deaths among women and that according to the NationalCancer Institute (NCI), there were 22,430 new cases of ovariancancer and 15,280 deaths from ovarian cancer in the UnitedStates in 2007, congressional leaders in both the US House ofRepresentatives and the US Senate have introduced legislationtitled “The Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers Research Act.”

This legislation was crafted by Congressmen HowardBerman (D-CA) and Ralph Hall (R-TX) and Senators BarbaraBoxer (D-CA) and Elizabeth Dole (R-NC) with input from theSociety of Gynecologic Oncologists (SGO). The SGO is noweducating members of Congress and their staff regarding theneed for this legislation. In the House of Representatives, SGOhas secured the support of senior members of the House Energyand Commerce Committee, such as Congressmen HenryWaxman (D-CA), Ed Markey (D-MA), Ed Towns (D-NY),Eliot Engel (D-NY), Gene Green (D-TX), George Radanovich(R-CA), and Mike Ferguson (R-NJ). In the Senate, SenatorPatty Murray (D-WA), who is the fourth highest member of theleadership, has signed on as a co-sponsor. The Senate version ofthe bill is also co-sponsored by both Democratic candidates forPresident, Senators Hillary Clinton (D-NY) and Barak Obama(D-IL).

When passed by Congress and then signed by the president,this legislation will create a new ovarian cancer biomarkersresearch program at the NCI that:

A. Authorizes the NCI to spend up to $25 million per year tomake grants to public and nonprofit entities to establishresearch centers of excellence focused on:

1) The development and characterization of new biomarkersand the refinements of existing biomarkers for ovariancancer.

2) The clinical and laboratory validation of such biomar-kers, including technical development, standardization ofassay methods, sample preparation, reagents, reproduci-bility, portability, and other refinements.

3) The development and implementation of clinical andepidemiological research on the utilization of biomarkersfor the early detection and screening of ovarian cancer.

4) The development and implementation of repositories fornew tissue, urine, serum, and other biological specimens(such as ascites and pleural fluids).

doi:10.1016/j.ygyno.2008.02.014

B. Authorizes the NCI to spend up to $5 million a year toestablish and implement one or more national clinical trialsto determine the utility of using biomarkers developed bythe research centers of excellence and clinical guidelines fortheir use for risk stratification for, early detection andscreening of ovarian cancer.

To download a copy of this legislation (H.R. 3689/S.2569)and to track the progress regarding members of Congress co-sponsoring the Biomarkers Bill and thus stating that theysupport its enactment, please visit the following web site:http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/D?d110:11:./temp/~bdBgKn::|/bss/d110query.html|.

As of February 18, 2008, the US Representatives’ version ofthe Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers Act had 72 cosponsors. TheSenate version, S. 2569, had 11 cosponsors.

Take action today!

To assist the SGO and its partners in increasing the number ofco-sponsors for H.R. 3689/S. 2569, please take the followingaction:

• Visit the SGO Legislative Action Center at http://capwiz.com/sgo/home/ and send a message to your member ofCongress asking he/she to become a co-sponsor of H.R.3689/S.2569—the Ovarian Cancer Biomarkers ResearchAct of 2007. You may customize the message in theplaces identified.

• Please share this information with your colleagues and askthem to contact their congressional representatives in thesame manner.

If you have any questions or need additional information,please do not hesitate to contact Dr. Carol Brown, Chairman,SGOGovernment Relations Committee, at Brown4@mskcc.orgor Jill Rathbun, SGO Director of Government Relations, atjill_rathbun@galileogrp.com.

Carol BrownSGO Government Relations CommitteeE-mail address: Brown4@mskcc.org.