[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 40 (Tuesday, April 8, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           CONGRATULATING THE CANCER INSTITUTE OF NEW JERSEY

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARGE ROUKEMA

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 8, 1997

  Mrs. ROUKEMA. Mr. Speaker, I rise to congratulate the Cancer 
Institute of New Jersey on being designated as a clinical cancer center 
by the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Centers Program. This long-
sought designation is a well-deserved honor and will mean much not only 
to the Cancer Institute of New Jersey but cancer patients throughout 
the State as well.
  This designation, a tremendous advancement in health care for New 
Jerseyans, will allow clinical trials of new cancer therapies sponsored 
by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to take place in New Jersey 
for the first time. This is a major milestone for the 6-year-old 
center, which is part of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of 
New Jersey's Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. The medical school 
will receive an $800,000 Federal grant to help support the center's 
operations. The designation places the Cancer Institute of New Jersey 
among the highest regarded cancer centers in the world.
  The people of the State of New Jersey deserve the research and care 
provided by the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. They need to have 
convenient access to the newest advances in the prevention, diagnosis, 
and experimental treatment of cancer. Prior to the creation of the 
institute, New Jersey cancer patients seeking innovative care were 
forced to travel to either New York or Philadelphia. This was a 
particular burden for residents of the central portion of the State, 
which is an hour or more from either city. Such long travel distances 
are more than inconvenient--with frequent, repeated treatment sometimes 
needed, they can cause serious disruptions and hardships for the 
families involved. The opening of the institute has proven a major step 
forward for New Jersey cancer patients and its new designation as a 
cancer center brings New Jersey cancer treatment to the state-of-the-
art.
  The need for the institute is great. New Jersey has nearly 8 million 
citizens and cancer statistics ranking it as the third highest State in 
the Nation for estimated cancer deaths and the eighth highest for new 
cancer cases.
  With 120 investigators, the Cancer Institute's clinical care and 
basic research programs include bone, bone marrow transplantation, 
gastrointestinal, genitourinary, gynecological, head and neck, 
leukemia/lymphoma, melanoma/sarcoma, and pediatrics.
  The institute becomes one of more than 50 cancer centers designated 
across the country that engage in multidisciplinary research efforts to 
reduce cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality.
  The Cancer Institute of New Jersey is a partnership of UMDNJ, 
Hackensack University Medical Center, New Brunswick Affiliated 
Hospitals, St. Peter's Medical Center, and Atlantic Health System.
  I know personally the tragedy of cancer: My husband, Richard W. 
Roukema, M.D., and I lost our son, Todd, to leukemia in 1976 at the age 
of 17. At that time, bone marrow transplants and other techniques that 
offered hope were only in their experimental stages. Since then, many 
advances have been made that have spared thousands of other parents the 
heartbreak we faced. It is thanks to the brilliant researchers and 
physicians at institutions such as the Cancer Institute of New Jersey 
that hope can be maintained.
  Today, we are within grasp of a cure for many forms of cancer but 
much research remains to be done. I thank God for those who are willing 
to labor toward this goal and pray that with their help a cure can be 
found and that no child will ever again have to suffer from this 
terrible disease.

                          ____________________