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Washington, DC—Today, Congressman Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.) was joined by eleven of his colleagues, including Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), in sending a letter to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute urging the agency to utilize a portion of $8.2 million in biomedical research funding received from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to improve prostate-specific imaging technology (text of the letter below).
“Every eighteen minutes, another man dies of prostate cancer, and yet, despite its prevalence, we still lack adequate diagnostic tools to provide for early detection, accurate biopsies, and appropriate treatment,” Congressman Cummings said. “By using a portion of these additional research funds on prostate-specific imaging technology, we can move one step closer to ensuring that our commitment to prostate cancer research matches its impact in our lives.”
Almost 30,000 men die of prostate cancer each year, and half of the men who are treated experience a return of the cancer. Within the African American community, the statistics are even more alarming, with a 60 percent higher incidence rate and more than 2.5 times higher mortality rate than within the white community. Despite prostate cancer having a higher prevalence than breast cancer, advanced diagnostic imaging technologies comparable to life-saving mammograms still remain unavailable for men.
A study funded by the National Cancer Institute that will be published in the March 26 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine shows no evidence of a survival benefit associated with aggressive screening for prostate cancer using the prostate specific antigen (PSA) test. Because of the lack of an effective diagnostic tool, more than 1 million men undergo unnecessary and traumatic biopsies each year, with side effects such as impotence and incontinence.
“The leadership of NIH in the advancement of breast imaging technologies resulted in the transformation of diagnosis and minimally-invasive treatments of breast cancer, and I firmly believe that NIH and the National Cancer Institute can lead the way in bringing this same transformation to prostate cancer,” Congressman Cummings said.
Signatories of the letter: Elijah E. Cummings (D-Md.), Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.), Dan Burton (R-Ind.), Donna M. Christensen (D-V.I.), Danny K. Davis (D-Ill.), Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Michael E. Capuano (D-Mass.), Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), Jim Marshall (D-Ga.), Tim Holden (D-Penn.), Robert Wexler (D-Fla.)
The Text of the Letter:
March 23, 2009
Raynard S. Kington, M.D., Ph.D.
Acting Director
National Institutes of Health
One Center Drive, Room 126
Bethesda, MD 20892
John E. Niederhuber, MD
Director
National Cancer Institute
31 Center Drive, Room 11A48
Bethesda, MD 20892
Dear Directors Kington and Niederhuber:
Now that President Barack Obama has signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law, your agencies will receive an additional $8.2 billion in funding for critical biomedical research. We urge you to devote some of these funds to research to improve prostate-specific imaging technology for improved early diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. This research holds enormous promise to drastically reduce human and societal costs of prostate cancer, yet has received minimal support in prior years.
Prostate cancer is the most common major cancer in this country and the second most lethal cancer in men. While it can be cured when diagnosed early, close to 30,000 American men will die from prostate cancer in 2009. Many of us in Congress and millions throughout the country have been personally affected by prostate cancer or had a loved one suffer from it. While this disease has a higher incidence rate than breast cancer, there has not been a similar level of funding. And, in fact, funding for prostate cancer research has decreased over the last six years. Accurate diagnostic technologies comparable to life-saving mammograms still remain unavailable for men, yet the promise of prostate imaging technology is real and immediate. In January, leading experts from around the world stated in a joint letter that they “firmly believe that more accurate imaging technology would lead to better patient care, including guidance for diagnosis, biopsy and minimally-invasive therapy. Real and important improvement in prostate cancer care are at hand if we are resolved to increase national investment in prostate diagnostics.”[1]
The leadership of NIH in the advancement of breast imaging technologies resulted in the transformation of diagnosis and minimally-invasive treatment of breast cancer. Your agency should now lead the way in creating accurate and affordable prostate imaging tools for men for prostate cancer detection and minimally-invasive treatment. With such technologies, men and their families would face less physical, emotional, and financial trauma. Moreover, improved diagnostics could eliminate unnecessary biopsies and treatment and it is estimated it could result in savings of $5 billion for national health care each year—an enormous return-on-investment for the research commitment we seek today.
Last June, the House unanimously approved House Resolution 353 calling for “increased support for research and development of advanced imaging technologies for prostate cancer detection and treatment.” Now, we have given you new resources to accomplish this worthy goal. The medical research community is more than “shovel ready” to put these resources to work. We hope that you will increase significantly the amount of funding for prostate imaging research aimed at early detection and improved treatment of the second most lethal cancer in men.
Sincerely,
Elijah E. Cummings, Henry A. Waxman, Dan Burton, Donna M. Christensen, Danny K. Davis, Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., Keith Ellison, Michael E. Capuano, Dennis Moore, Jim Marshall, Tim Holden, Robert Wexler
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[1] AdMeTech Foundation Consensus Conference on Prostate Imaging, Bethesda Maryland, 1/12/09: http://www.admetech.org/download/consensus_letter.pdf
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