PanCAN’S Julie Fleshman Joins Leaders of National Patient Advocacy Organizations to Send a Powerful and Unified Message to Congress: “Cancer Research Is Not a Line Item. It’s a Lifeline.”

The administration’s fiscal year 2026 proposed budget included devastating cuts to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Cancer Institute (NCI). In response, and as Congress returns to work on Capitol Hill – determining the budgets for the NIH and NCI – PanCAN president and CEO Julie Fleshman joined leaders of national patient advocacy organizations and the 73 NCI-Designated Cancer Centers to speak out about the importance of sustained, robust federal support to saving lives. These organizations represent the five major cancers responsible for the highest number of cancer-related deaths in the U.S. – breast, colorectal, lung, pancreatic and prostate.

Julie Fleshman, president and CEO of PanCAN; Victoria Woldzko Smart, Senior Vice President, Mission of Susan G. Komen; Anjee Davis, president of Fight Colorectal Cancer; Courtney Bugler, president and CEO of ZERO Prostate and Andrea Ferris, president and CEO of LUNGevity joined with Jennifer Pegher, Executive Director of the Association of American Cancer Institutes, to publish a letter today calling on Congress “to reject these dangerous cuts and reaffirm America’s commitment to conquering cancer. For the millions of Americans living with, at risk for, or newly diagnosed with cancer, we must keep moving forward. Lives depend on it.”

Read the full article here.

Congress is back at work. Tell them to pass full-year spending bills that include the biggest increases for pancreatic cancer research! Contact your members now.