Allen Co-Sponsored Breast Cancer Legislation is Approved by Senate HELP Committee

Allen Co-Sponsored Breast Cancer Legislation is Approved by Senate HELP Committee
Legislation Approved by the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions

Today, landmark legislation to combat breast cancer co-sponsored by Senator George Allen (R-VA) was unanimously approved by the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP). Authored by U.S. Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI), S. 757, The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act, provides federal funding for research into the environmental causes of breast cancer. The legislation has been hailed by breast cancer advocacy groups as vital to defeating this disease, which is the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women.

This legislation would, for the first time, create a national strategy to address this important issue. Specifically, it would authorize the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to award grants for the development and operation of multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional research centers focused on the environmental factors that may be related to the development of breast cancer. The program would be peer-reviewed and would also include representatives from community organizations. The bill would authorize $30 million in Fiscal Years 2007-2012 for research grants.

Senator Allen, who in May received a major award from the Nation Breast Cancer Coalition (NBCC) for his long dedication to finding the links between environmental factors and breast cancer, called the news "an important step forward in our fight to cure breast cancer."

"I am pleased that the HELP Committee has finally reported out this groundbreaking piece of legislation that will go a very long way into studying the vital link between environmental factors and breast cancer," said Senator Allen. "My mother is a two-time breast cancer survivor, so our family knows that early detection, research and better treatment approaches are important to so many families, who like my own, have confronted this devastating disease. I will continue to work with Senator Chafee and other supporters of this legislation to make sure it gets its due time on the Senate floor."

With the exception of skin cancer, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women in the United States and worldwide. Approximately 3 million women in the United States are living with breast cancer, 2.3 million of whom have been diagnosed and an estimated 1 million who do not yet know that they have the disease.

In 2006, it is estimated that 274,900 new cases of breast cancer will be diagnosed among women in the United States, 212,920 cases of which will involve invasive breast cancer and 61,980 cases of which will involve ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women in the Unites States between the ages of 20 and 59. Approximately 40,970 women in the United States die from the disease in 2006.

"This is a great first step in the enactment of legislation that holds the promise for a better understanding of the causes of breast cancer, breakthroughs in prevention and treatment, and ultimately a cure," said Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI). "For many years, scientists have researched the genetic variations that can lead to breast cancer, but the environmental causes have largely been ignored. The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act will allow us to gather this important evidence on what environmental factors may trigger the onset of breast cancer before we come to conclusions, and it will arm women with the scientific data they need to stay healthy and cancer-free. I hope the commitment of those who worked to approve this legislation in the committee will bring this bill to the forefront of women's health issues in Congress."

Scientists have long recognized that environmental factors -- such as diet, pesticides, and electromagnetic fields -- play a significant role in determining who will contract breast cancer. Unfortunately, due to difficulties in correlating environmental factors with specific instances of breast cancer, this important area has remained underfunded and understudied. The Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act would provide the first congressionally mandated study of potential environmental risk factors of breast cancer.

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