[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2941 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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114th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2941

  To require a study on women and lung cancer, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 17, 2016

 Ms. Ayotte (for herself, Mrs. Feinstein, Mr. Rubio, and Ms. Cantwell) 
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the 
          Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To require a study on women and lung cancer, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Women and Lung Cancer Research and 
Preventive Services Act of 2016''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds as follows:
            (1) In the United States, an average of 198 women die each 
        day of lung cancer, one every 7 minutes.
            (2) Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among 
        women.
            (3) The National Cancer Institute estimates that in 2016, 
        71,600 women will die of lung cancer, more than the combined 
        total of all estimated deaths from breast cancer (40,450), 
        ovarian cancer (14,240), cervical cancer (4,120), uterine 
        cancer (10,470) and other gynecologic cancers (1,990).
            (4) Two-thirds of never-smokers diagnosed with lung cancer 
        are women; lung cancer in never-smokers is the sixth leading 
        cause of all cancer deaths.
            (5) According to a report of the Surgeon General in 2014 
        entitled, ``The Health Consequences of Smoking--50 Years of 
        Progress'', the relative risk of women smokers developing lung 
        cancer compared to women who never smoked increased tenfold 
        between 1965 and 2010.
            (6) Women are at greater risk than men of being diagnosed 
        with lung cancer at young ages.
            (7) Women smokers with BRCA2 mutations, more commonly 
        associated with breast cancer, have a 1 in 4 risk of developing 
        lung cancer.
            (8) A Government Accountability Office report published on 
        October 22, 2015, called for the National Institutes of Health 
        to do more in evaluating gender differences in research.
            (9) Additional research strategies and clinical trials are 
        necessary to explore the differences in lung cancer risk 
        factors, incidence, and treatment response in women, and to 
        address the disparate impact of lung cancer on women who have 
        never smoked.
            (10) Lung cancer screening, which can detect lung cancer at 
        its earliest, most curable stage, is a covered service 
        available without cost-sharing for those at high risk.
            (11) Published peer-reviewed actuarial studies indicate 
        that lung cancer screening individuals at high risk is cost-
        effective.
            (12) The National Framework of Excellence in Lung Cancer 
        Screening and Continuum of Care, launched in 2012, demonstrated 
        that lung cancer screening can be safely and effectively 
        carried out in community hospital settings around the Nation.
            (13) Lung cancer screening research indicates that the same 
        technology used to screen for lung cancer could be used to 
        simultaneously screen for early breast, heart, and lung 
        diseases, which together constitute more than 50 percent of 
        deaths among women in the United States.
            (14) Information on the impact of lung cancer on women and 
        the importance of early detection should be incorporated into 
        all public health awareness campaigns.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS CONCERNING WOMEN AND LUNG CANCER.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) there is a disparate impact of lung cancer on women 
        and, in particular, on women who have never smoked;
            (2) additional research strategies to explore the 
        differences in women with respect to lung cancer risk factors, 
        incidence, histology, and response to treatment are justified 
        and necessary;
            (3) the implementation of lung cancer preventive services 
        for women should be accelerated; and
            (4) the public health agencies of the Federal Government 
        should coordinate public education and awareness programs on 
        the impact of lung cancer on women and the importance of early 
        detection.

SEC. 4. STUDY TO EVALUATE AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE ACCELERATION 
              OF RESEARCH ON WOMEN AND LUNG CANCER, GREATER ACCESS TO 
              PREVENTIVE SERVICES, AND STRATEGIC PUBLIC AWARENESS AND 
              EDUCATION CAMPAIGNS.

    (a) Study.--The Secretary of Health and Human Services, in 
consultation with the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs, shall conduct an interagency study to evaluate the status of, 
and make recommendations for increased--
            (1) research on women and lung cancer;
            (2) access to lung cancer preventive services; and
            (3) strategic public awareness and education campaigns on 
        lung cancer.
    (b) Content.--The study and recommendations under subsection (a) 
shall include--
            (1) a review and comprehensive report on the outcomes of 
        previous research, the status of existing research activities, 
        and knowledge gaps related to women and lung cancer in all 
        agencies of the Federal Government;
            (2) specific recommendations for a collaborative, 
        interagency, multidisciplinary, and innovative research 
        program, that would--
                    (A) encourage innovative approaches to eliminate 
                knowledge gaps in research;
                    (B) evaluate environmental and genomic factors that 
                may be related to the etiology of lung cancer in women; 
                and
                    (C) foster advances in imaging technology to 
                improve risk assessment, diagnosis, treatment, and the 
                simultaneous application of other preventive services;
            (3) recommendations for the development of a national lung 
        cancer screening strategy with sufficient infrastructure and 
        personnel resources to expand access to such screening, 
        particularly among underserved populations; and
            (4) recommendations for the development of a national 
        public education and awareness campaign on women and lung 
        cancer and the importance of early detection of lung cancer.
    (c) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall 
submit to Congress a report on the study conducted under subsection 
(a).
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