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Supporting the Goals and Ideals of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month

Date: Sept. 25, 2006
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Science Health and Health Care


SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF PANCREATIC CANCER AWARENESS MONTH -- (House of Representatives - September 25, 2006)

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Mr. VAN HOLLEN. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, for thousands of Americans, a doctor's diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is a devastating occasion that can send patients and their families into a whirlwind of depression and despair. Every year, more than 33,000 Americans are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and even more startling is the fact that the overwhelming majority of those patients will die of pancreatic cancer. Only about 4 percent are currently expected to live beyond 5 years. As Mr. Davis said, pancreatic cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer death in the United States.

After years of research, we are not significantly closer to understanding what causes pancreatic cancer. Most cancers are caused by environmental, dietary or lifestyle factors, and most pancreatic cancer is believed to be no different. However, the specific link between the onset of pancreatic cancer and any one or a combination of these extraneous factors has yet to be determined. A significant body of research is developing around a possible hereditary link in pancreatic cancer, but even the results of these studies have shown that only 5 to 10 percent of cases have genetic links.

Although awareness of cancer's prevalence in the United States improves and medical advances in the field abound, pancreatic cancer has largely been absent from the list of major success stories. Surgical procedures may have increased the survival chances of some with the disease, but there has been little momentum in advancing diagnostics or nonsurgical oncological treatments beyond palliative care.

Mr. Speaker, I think this is an important piece of legislation that draws attention to this devastating disease. We need to make people more aware of it. We also need to make sure that the National Institutes of Health has the resources necessary to continue to work toward finding cures and treatments for pancreatic cancer, all cancers, and so many other devastating diseases that hurt and strike families across our country every year.

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