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Raising Health Awareness Through Examining Benign Brain Tumor Cancer, Alpha One and Breast Implant Issues.
Subcommittee on Health
Mr. Duane Howell Ph.D.
Good
afternoon, Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee.
I appreciate the opportunity to testify today on the Hematological
Cancer Research Investment and Education Act of 2001.
I am Dwayne Howell, the President and CEO of The Leukemia &
Lymphoma Society. The Society is
a voluntary health agency that raises funds to support research on the blood
cancers and provides services to individuals with blood cancers and their
families. In fiscal year 2001, we
committed $36 million to hematological cancer research, including major grants
to support specialized centers of research excellence in blood cancers, and we
hope to fund research totaling almost $40 million in fiscal year 2002.
Through our 59 chapters, we support patients and their families around
the country. The
burden of the hematological cancers, including leukemia, Hodgkin's disease,
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, and multiple myeloma, is often underestimated.
However, if these diseases are taken together, they represent the
fourth most common cancer. In
2001, almost 700,000 are living with hematological malignancies.
In this year, approximately 110,000 individuals will be diagnosed with
leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma, and more than 60,000 will die from these
cancers. These
individuals, their families, friends, and caregivers applaud the efforts of
Representatives Phil Crane, Marge Roukema, Mike Ferguson, and Vic Snyder to
develop legislation to focus the nation's blood cancer research and
education programs and we also appreciate the willingness of this Subcommittee
to consider this bill in 2001. This
is a time of great challenge and also tremendous opportunity for blood cancer
research, and a coordinated and strengthened research program is essential. The obstacles of educating patients, their families, and the
public regarding the blood cancers grow as our knowledge of the diseases
deepens and the range of treatment options expands, and a public-private
partnership in that educational effort is crucial. The Hematological Cancer Research Investment and Education Act of 2001 authorizes an initiative to intensify and coordinate blood cancer research efforts at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Joe Moakley Cancer Education Program within the Department of Health and Human Services. These programs will facilitate advances in the treatment of blood cancers and the education of patients and the public regarding blood cancers. The
federal government currently makes a substantial investment in blood cancer
research, an investment that is complemented by the research support of The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and other private research organizations.
Despite the strong commitment of public and private funders, the research
effort can be improved with more funding and greater coordination.
The Hematological Cancer Research Investment and Education Act would make
improvements in the existing research program to enhance the fundamental
understanding of blood cancers and accelerate the development of new therapies.
The
Act would also establish the Joe Moakley Cancer Education Program, an important
educational initiative for patients and the public that would allow for
coordination with existing private sector patient education and service
programs. Patient service and
education are major areas of focus for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, and
we look forward to the federal government's involvement and collaboration in
patient and public education. The
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society appreciates the tremendous responsibilities and
pressures that face the Congress as it attempts to respond to the events of
September 11, and we would like to express our deep appreciation for your
decision to focus on the hematological cancer research and education bill in the
midst of these pressures. Your
prompt action to evaluate this legislation is critically important to
individuals living with blood cancers and their families and friends.
The opportunity for research advances and the necessity for educating
patients about those advances confront us NOW, and the Hematological Cancer
Research Investment and Education Act will help us respond to those challenges. Over
the last half-century, researchers have made impressive advances in the
treatment of some forms of leukemia and Hodgkin's disease.
In fact, many cite these diseases as success stories of cancer research.
There has been much less progress in the treatment of non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma, multiple myeloma, and some forms of leukemia.
Particularly troubling is the fact that the death rate for
non-Hodgkin's lymphoma has increased by 45% from the time period between 1973
and 1998 and the death rate for multiple myeloma has increased by more than 32%
in the same time period. Despite
these troubling statistics, we have reason to be hopeful.
Our substantial investment in basic research has yielded enhanced
knowledge of the nature of hematological cancers and contributed to advances in
treatment. Genetic and molecular
analyses of hematological cancers are identifying targets for drug development,
and this work has yielded a groundbreaking new therapy for chronic myelogenous
leukemia, or CML. We hope this new
therapy, a signal transduction inhibitor called Gleevec, is the first of other
similar drugs that are targeted to intercept a cellular malfunction that leads
to cancer. There are other
promising approaches to treatment of blood cancers, including cancer vaccines
employing immunotherapy to enhance the recognition and destruction of cancer
cells; laboratory-designed monoclonal antibodies to use the specificity of an
antibody directed against a tumor antigen to target therapy to the tumor,
sparing normal cells; and the use of an antibody to carry a radioactive isotope
or toxin to the cancer cells. The
investment in research on the blood cancers will yield benefits beyond
improvements in treatments for these cancers.
The advances in the understanding and treatment of the hematological
cancers have also contributed to enhanced therapies for other forms of cancer.
Chemotherapy drugs that were developed for treatment of leukemia, for
example, are now saving the lives of individuals with solid tumors.
Support for hematological cancers benefits all cancer research and has
the potential to improve the lives of many cancer survivors. To
ensure that we realize the benefits of our investment in basic research and
continue to make advances in the treatment of blood cancers, there must be a
strong partnership between the private and public sectors.
A special panel of researchers convened by the National Cancer Institute
(NCI), called the Leukemia, Lymphoma, and Myeloma Progress Review Group (LLM PRG),
has developed a comprehensive set of recommendations for hematological cancer
research. This ambitious plan
reflects lengthy deliberations of a group that included researchers, government
officials, industry, and patient advocates and sets an aggressive course for
hematological cancer research, with a special emphasis on partnerships between
the private and public sectors. The
Hematological Cancer Research Investment and Education Act will help us realize
the goals of the PRG report, which are concentrated on accelerating the
development of new therapies for leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma. On
behalf of the hundreds of thousands of leukemia, lymphoma, and myeloma survivors
and their families, friends, and caregivers, we would like to thank you for your
attention to hematological cancer research and education.
We look forward to Committee approval of this bill, and we appreciate
your efforts to advance this bill.
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