[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 61 (Thursday, April 17, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3146-S3147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

  By Mr. REID (for Mrs. Clinton):
  S. 2877. A bill to improve and enhance research and programs on 
cancer survivorship, and for other purposes; to the Committee on 
Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mrs. CLINTON. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the Pediatric, 
Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer Survivorship and Quality of Life 
Act, legislation introduced on the House side by Representatives Solis 
and Bono.
  The National Cancer Institute estimates that there are more than 10 
million cancer survivors in the United States. Advances in medical 
research have resulted in earlier diagnoses, more effective treatments, 
and improvements in medical outcomes for Americans with cancer.
  These advances in cancer care are especially evident when examining 
our gains for pediatric cancers. The 5-year survival rate for children 
with cancer has improved markedly over the past decades, from 56 
percent for those diagnosed in the mid-1970s to 79 percent for those 
diagnosed between 1995 and 2000. There are now more than 270,000 
childhood cancer survivors in the U.S., and that number is expected to 
increase as we gain a better understanding of pediatric cancers and 
ways to treat them.
  But in the years that we have made these gains in addressing cancer 
in children, we have also learned that many of these survivors 
experience what are known as ``late effects'' resulting from either the 
cancer or its treatment. These late effects include things like 
additional cancers, osteoporosis, heart problems and reduced lung 
capacity. As many as a quarter of childhood cancer survivors experience 
late effects that are serious or life-threatening. We must be doing 
more to ensure that the quality of life of children who have survived 
cancer is as high as possible, and that life-saving treatments result 
in as few long-term side effects as possible.
  It is also important to note that health care disparities also impact 
pediatric cancer care and survivorship. African-Americans, Hispanics, 
and Asian/Pacific Islander children have

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higher rates of certain cancers than their white counterparts. In 
addition, due to disparities in access to care, these individuals may 
fail to receive adequate treatments for late effects of cancers. We 
need to improve our efforts to ensure that racial and ethnic 
disparities are eliminated from cancer care.
  In a 2005 report, titled ``From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor: 
Lost in Transition'', the Institute of Medicine, IOM, recommended 
several measures we can take as a nation to improve the quality of life 
for children and young adults who are impacted by cancer. The 
legislation that I am introducing today will allow us to implement some 
of those recommendations, including expansion of cancer control and 
surveillance programs, increasing research in survivorship, and 
developing model systems of care and monitoring for cancer survivors. 
It will also create grants to establish childhood cancer survivorship 
clinics, and help childhood cancer organizations expand and improve 
their work in providing care and treatment.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues in the Senate to ensure 
that we address the needs of cancer survivors throughout the lifespan, 
and help to improve the quality of life for the many children and 
families that struggle with a cancer diagnosis.
                                 ______