Seattle (WA) – As Congressman Jim McDermott stepped behind the podium at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, he looked out at a room full of doctors, researchers, patients, the local business community and ACS CAN volunteers. His message was clear – funding cancer research does more than just lead to lifesaving medical breakthroughs, it pours money back into local economies and creates jobs.

Congressman McDermott went on to share stories about how he works with his fellow Members of Congress to build support for increased funding for cancer and medical research at the National Institutes of Health.

His words were of particular interest to Dr. Oliver Press, a member of the Clinical Research Division at the Hutchinson Center who has been conducting innovative research in the field of leukemia and lymphoma.

For more than 25 years, Dr. Press and his colleagues have developed a highly effective way to spare normal cells while blasting cancer with high doses of radiation. However, due to funding concerns last year he was forced to stall his research for five months, lay off staff and turn patients away. He was proud to say that funding was restored in August, but they continue to feel the effects.

Cancer survivor Lisa Verner, a patient of Dr. Press, put a real face on the story. Ms. Verner emphasized the lifesaving importance of research and clinical trials like the ones conducted at the Hutchinson Center.

“I can proudly say that as of this week I am a 5 year cancer survivor because of Dr. Press’ research and my participation in a clinical trial,” said Ms. Verner.
While lauding the success of Dr. Press and Ms. Verner, ACS CAN President Chris Hansen also pointed out that 2012 will be another challenging year to bolster funding for cancer research.

“The budget the president released last week flat-funded NIH,” said Hansen. “ACS CAN was deeply disappointed, especially because the importance of cancer research was highlighted during the State of the Union address. We’re calling on Congress to reinstate research funding, but the process is playing out against the backdrop of the November elections.

“The task may not be easy, but it is imperative. The urgency is measured in lives that have been lost and lives that can be saved. Putting an end to cancer is the right thing to do, right now,” said Hansen.

The event was jointly sponsored by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) and the Hutchinson Center to promote the importance of federal funding for cancer research and its impact beyond just medicine. ACS CAN has held similar events in collaboration with The Ohio State University James Cancer Center in Columbus, Ohio; The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas; UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center in San Diego, California; and The University of Alabama Birmingham Comprehensive Cancer Center in Birmingham, Alabama.

Together we fought for cancer research funding, and we’ve had a major victory!

We took our message to make cancer a national priority to Congress, and they heard us. In fact, they heard us loud and clear and passed a budget that increased funding for cancer research and prevention programs in 2012.

The budget included a $300 million increase to the National Institutes of Health, and a $38 million funding increase to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, home to important cancer prevention programs like the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program.

Now that we have their attention, it’s not the time to quiet down. We have another fight ahead of us after the Congressional Super Committee failed to reach a deal last month, endangering cancer research funding in 2013.

Make a commitment in 2012 to help make cancer a national priority.

You can promise to:

• Help us recruit more action takers
• Promote ACS CAN campaigns on Facebook or Twitter
• Send emails to your Member of Congress
• Get involved locally in your community in the new year

Visit www.acscan.org/2012 and pledge to do one or more of these in the new year.

We’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of the National Cancer Act, signed into law on December 23, 1971 by President Richard Nixon. Over the past four decades, the law has helped increase cancer research efforts and put a spotlight on cancer issues.

A year after the National Cancer Act was signed, researchers pioneered bone marrow transplants to treat cancer. Seven years later, they figured out how to sequence DNA, allowing them to study the actions of specific genes. Scientists discovered the first breast cancer gene 23 years after the act was signed, and cancer deaths have been declining since the 1990s.

But 570,000 people in America still die from cancer every single year. And we are still searching for a way to eradicate this disease. That’s why we have to make cancer a national priority.

That’s where you come in.

We need your help making sure lawmakers continue funding cancer research and prevention programs. Can we rely on you to help us protect funding for cancer research and cancer prevention programs as we look ahead to 2012?

You can pledge to:

• Help us recruit more action takers
• Promote ACS CAN campaigns on Facebook or Twitter
• Send emails to your Member of Congress
• Get involved locally in your community in the new year

Just visit www.acscan.org/2012 and let us know what you’ll do to help make cancer a national priority.

With your help, we may one day see a future with no cancer. But it will take all of us to make that happen!

ACS CAN hosted an event on September 19 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland for cancer advocates, patients and researchers to commemorate the progress being made in cancer research. The event, held at the NIH Clinical Center, was organized by local volunteers and showcased the critical role that patients and survivors play in cancer research and discoveries at NIH-funded efforts across the country.

At the event, Molly Daniels, deputy president of ACS CAN, spoke about the importance of the NIH in making breakthroughs in cancer research, and the need for Congress to protect funding to continue this momentum. Two NIH researchers, Dr. Lee Helman, scientific director for clinical research at the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research (CCR) and Dr. W. Marston Linehan, branch chief of the CCR’s Urologic Oncology Branch, described their specific cancer research projects. Following the formal presentation, attendees were given a tour of the Clinical Center which included a few cancer research labs.

Speakers from left to right: Molly Daniels, deputy president, ACS CAN; Merria Woods, kidney cancer survivor; Dr. W. Marston Linehan, branch chief, Urologic Oncology Branch at NCI’s CCR; and Dr. Lee Helman, scientific director for clinical research at NCI’s CCR

Attendees shared their cancer milestones on banners during the event.

ACS CAN Deputy President Molly Daniels and Senior Director of State and Local Campaigns Carter Steger examine bone cancer cells through a microscope in a pediatric cancer research lab.

“We are making unprecedented progress that is changing the way we prevent and treat cancer in this country, thanks in no small part to federal investments in cancer research.”

Those were the words of Dr. Ed Partrdidge, director of the Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, and Lisa Roth, CEO of the American Cancer Society’s Mid-South Division, in an editorial appearing in the Birmingham News.

The article coincided with an event held at the University to display the important role that cancer research not only has in saving lives but also in impacting local communities.

Read the full editorial.