Article/Column

The Race Is On

by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings

It began as one woman’s promise to her dying sister to do everything within her power to find a cure.  Today, the annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure has become part of a global movement to end breast cancer.

Tens of thousands of committed people across the country sign up each year to run the 5-kilometer test of physical strength.  They undertake this challenge in honor of Ms. Komen and every other woman who has been attacked by this disease. 

More than a successful fund raising effort, this “race” proclaims the heightened sense of urgency that we all should feel if we truly are to eradicate breast cancer in our lifetime.

Here in America and throughout the world, there are few of us who have not been touched by breast cancer in some very personal way.   We, too, are called to do all that we can to advance this movement to save lives.

At the very least, we can learn the facts and educate those we love.

Despite medical advances, breast cancer remains the second leading cause of cancer death among women in the United States. One in seven American women will develop the disease during her lifetime.

This year, approximately 180,000 women will discover that they have developed invasive breast cancer.   More than 40,000 women will lose their lives to this killer.

Nationwide, more than 2 million American women have been treated for breast cancer.  Many will survive, but far, far too many continue to die from the disease.

African American women are suffering disproportionately.  Their mortality rate from breast cancer is 36 percent greater than the death rate among white women. 

There is, however, some good news among these dismal statistics.  Breast cancer deaths for Americans as a whole declined from 1990 to 2002.

The bad news is that this decline was only 1 percent for African Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders – a far less pronounced improvement than the 2.4 percent increase in survival enjoyed by white women.

Still, there is hope to be found in the progress we have made.

We now know that, with early screening and aggressive therapy, many more of our mothers, wives and children can survive.  Routine mammography screening is especially effective at detecting breast cancer in the earliest stages when the chances of survival are best.  New digital techniques make mammography more rapid and precise than ever before.

Yet, we also know that 13 million American women over the age of 40 have never received a mammogram.

We must do better than this.  Women cannot afford to go without this life-saving measure.

We should encourage those we love who have reached the age of 40 to schedule a mammogram every year or two.  This simple act will significantly improve their chances of survival – by as much as 30 percent as they age.

This month is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  In addition to regular mammography exams, the American Cancer Society recommends that women obtain annual clinical breast exams, perform monthly self exams and obtain their physicians’ risk assessments as to how best to maintain their own health and catch any cancers at an early stage.

Men, too, should discuss our risk of breast cancer with our doctors.  It is estimated that more than 2,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer will be diagnosed among American men this year.

This is a clear indication that we all are runners in this survival race.  None of us can idly stand by.

That is why Congress has pledged to not give up the fight.   In this year's Defense appropriations bill, the House approved $127.5 million for breast cancer research.

We also are working to enact the proposed Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act [H.R. 1157] and the Annie Fox Act [H.R. 715], two bills that would bring crucial Federal support to help us better understand the environmental causes of breast cancer and investigate factors that make some young women especially vulnerable to more aggressive forms of the disease.

All of us have heard inspiring stories of the “sheroes” who have triumphed over almost unbearable hardships and pain caused by breast cancer.  We want their survival to continue – and we are working toward the day when these survival stories will include the headline of a cure.

To hasten that day, Breast Cancer Awareness Month cannot be limited to an annual event.  Each of us must do all that we can every day of the year to combat breast cancer – particularly by taking care of our own health – and encouraging family and friends to do the same.

The race is on in every family. We are running for our lives – and the lives of those we love.

I have faith that a cure awaits us at the finish line. We need only muster the strength, endurance and courage to persevere and cross it.

- The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.