[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 100 (Tuesday, June 17, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1245-E1246]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       CAROLINE PRYCE WALKER CONQUER CHILDHOOD CANCER ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                           HON. DAVID DREIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, June 11, 2008

  Mr. DREIER. Madam Speaker, I would like to thank my colleague Ms. 
Pryce for introducing H.R. 1553, the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer 
Childhood Cancer Act of 2008. As a co-sponsor of the bill, I am proud 
to support this measure.
  We all know that cancer is a devastating disease that affects untold 
numbers of Americans each year. While it is often easy to think of 
cancer as only affecting adults, the measure before us today is a 
reminder that cancer is in fact the leading cause of disease-related 
death in children in the United States, claiming the lives some 2,300 
children annually. It is therefore fitting that this bill has been 
named in honor of Caroline Pryce Walker, the late daughter of our 
colleague Deborah Pryce, who lost her battle against neuroblastoma in 
1999 at nine years of age.
  As many of us know, there are numerous institutions throughout the 
country which are dedicated to providing better care and research for 
childhood cancer patients. I am particularly proud to have several 
participating institutions located in my home state of California, 
including Cure Search, which has a research center located in the city 
of Arcadia, as well as the City of Hope, which is located in the city 
of Duarte. These institutions work under an unincorporated, nationwide 
network known as the Children's Oncology Group, which is comprised of 
over 200 childhood cancer treatment and research centers that 
collaborate on clinical trials and translational research of pediatric 
cancer.
  The work of Cure Search and the City of Hope, along with hundreds of 
other institutions across the county, has helped to make significant 
advances in the treatment of childhood cancer. When the National Cancer 
Institute founded the first pediatric cooperatives in 1955, the 
childhood cancer survival rate was a mere ten percent. Thanks to the 
collaborative work being performed through the Children's Oncology 
Group, that number has risen to seventy five percent today, and it is 
because of these joint efforts that new trends and therapies in 
childhood cancer are discovered each year.
  However, in recent years, treating cancer has become just one aspect 
of addressing the

[[Page E1246]]

health needs of children afflicted with the disease. The Children's 
Oncology Group has been at the forefront of raising awareness about the 
challenges that exist in the post-treatment, cancer survivorship 
period. For example, few may know that two-thirds of the children who 
survive cancer will ultimately experience at least one, if not more, 
long-term health issue as a result of their treatment. These so called 
``late-effects'' pose substantial health challenges for those who are 
fortunate enough to survive childhood cancer as well as for the doctors 
who treat them.
  To that end, the Children's Oncology Group has taken an important 
lead in focusing greater attention on long-term complications that 
arise from radiation and other therapies and has worked to study the 
long-term care needs of childhood cancer survivors. In fact, one of my 
constituents, Dr. Smita Bhatia, a resident of Arcadia who works at the 
City of Hope, served as the Chair of the Late Effects Committee at the 
Children's Oncology Group for eight years and was instrumental in 
establishing national guidelines for survivorship care. Today, these 
guidelines are being used to help equip survivors with the tools they 
need to identify the side-effects of specific cancer treatments and 
remain healthy as they mature into adulthood.
  The measure before us today will help advance our understanding of 
childhood cancer by addressing the need to obtain more accurate data to 
study trends and evaluate the most effective courses of treatment. 
While approximately 12,500 children in the United States are diagnosed 
with cancer each year, researchers have experienced great difficulties 
in pinpointing the exact causes of childhood cancer. Because of its 
random occurrence in children across the United States, it has been 
nearly impossible to acquire statistically significant data on the 
causes of and effective treatments for childhood cancer. The work of 
Cure Search and the City of Hope will be amplified by the underlying 
bill, which authorizes the creation of a national childhood cancer 
research database to provide better statistics on the occurrence of 
childhood cancer as well as the most effective treatments for patients. 
Building this database is critical to ensuring that those who are 
responsible for treating childhood cancer have the very best data 
available to them.
  Additionally, the bill authorizes $30 million to enhance and expand 
biomedical research programs that allow scientists to study how tumors 
form and spread as well as the impact that genetics can have on the 
likelihood of cancer and relapses of the disease. The bill also will 
provide better educational and informational services for childhood 
cancer patients and their families to ensure that they have access to 
appropriate clinical treatments and support services.
  H.R. 1553, Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act, 
affirms a long-term commitment to providing a cure to childhood cancer 
and also will ensure that doctors and patients alike are provided with 
the best information to make important medical decisions in the near-
term. As we seek to address the needs of childhood cancer patients, 
survivors and their families, I urge my colleagues to recognize the 
importance of the research that will be authorized by H.R. 1553 and 
support this bill.

                          ____________________