Learn Our Issues

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Legislative Priorities for 2010

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network calls on the Second Session of the 111th Congress to help us make progress against the fourth leading cancer killer by:

1. Enacting and fully funding the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act (H.R. 745). Click here to read more.

2. Sustain the investment that has been made at the National Cancer Institute by providing sufficient funding to protect on-going research and provide new research opportunities for pancreatic cancer. Click here to read more.

1. Enacting and fully funding the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act (H.R. 745)

Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers. 95% of patients will die within five years of diagnosis - only 5% survive more than five years and 76% of pancreatic cancer patients die within the first year of diagnosis. These statistics have changed little in the last 30 years.

Pancreatic cancer is also severely under-researched and under-funded. Unlike many cancers, there are no early detection tools or effective treatments for pancreatic cancer. Part of the problem is that the National Cancer Institute (NCI) allocates less than 2% of its $5 billion budget for pancreatic cancer research.

Recognizing that the time has come to make true progress on this deadly disease, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has worked with Congress to develop the first-ever substantive legislation that will lead to the creation of a federally supported strategic plan and increased resources for pancreatic cancer research.

The legislation, called the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act (H.R. 745), was introduced in the 111th Congress on January 28th, 2009 by U.S. Representatives Eshoo (D-CA) and Brown-Waite (R-FL). We are currently working on building support for the bill by encouraging other U.S. Representatives to become co-sponsors.

Click here to read a fact sheet on the bill and bill summary.

To read the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s press release on the bill’s re-introduction, please click here.

back to top

2. Sustain the investment that has been made at the National Cancer Institute by providing sufficient funding to protect on-going research and provide new research opportunities for pancreatic cancer.

The federal government is by far the primary funder of cancer research. Due to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s efforts, federal funding for pancreatic cancer research through the National Cancer Institute (NCI) has dramatically increased in the last decade, yet it is still far below the levels needed to make true progress. Unfortunately, the fact is that when adjusted for inflation, the NCI’s budget has decreased by almost 14% since Fiscal Year 2003. We not only need more money for the NCI, but need to ensure that more of the NCI’s funding is focused on pancreatic cancer research, which currently receives just 2% of the NCI’s $5 billion budget. The current funding levels are simply not sufficient to make true progress against a disease that is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death.

To accomplish this, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network educates Members of Congress about pancreatic cancer and the specific challenges our research community face. We also join our partners in One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC), a coalition of more than 40 cancer-related organizations interested in increasing federal funding for cancer research, to call for specific funding levels for the NIH and NCI.

back to top