[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 24, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H5942-H5944]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
SENSE OF HOUSE REGARDING PROSTATE CANCER DETECTION AND TREATMENT
Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and agree to the
resolution (H. Res. 353) expressing the sense of the House of
Representatives that there should be an increased Federal commitment
supporting the development of innovative advanced imaging technologies
for prostate cancer detection and treatment, as amended.
The Clerk read the title of the resolution.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
H. Res. 353
Whereas the annual commemoration of Men's Health Week
during the week preceding Father's Day gives new reason to
consider the critical need to improve detection and treatment
of prostate cancer;
Whereas prostate cancer now strikes at least one in six
American men, with African-American men having a 60 percent
higher incidence rate than Caucasian men and a mortality rate
twice as high;
Whereas each year more than 230,000 American men are newly
diagnosed with prostate
[[Page H5943]]
cancer, more than 1,500,000 men have biopsies, and around
30,000 men fall prey to this potential killer;
Whereas it is important for men to take advantage of
prostate cancer screening exams in order to detect the
disease at the earliest opportunity, when it is still
curable;
Whereas a recent study funded by the National Cancer
Institute demonstrated that the most common available methods
of detecting prostate cancer, the PSA blood test and physical
exams, are not foolproof--imaging would be another beneficial
factor in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer;
Whereas the use of advanced imaging technologies to detect
and treat prostate cancer could be beneficial for eliminating
unnecessary and costly medical procedures that increase
psychological and emotional trauma for American men and their
families;
Whereas the lack of accurate imaging tools means that
biopsies can miss cancer even when multiple samples are
taken, and current treatments--either radical surgery or
radiation--can leave 50 to 80 percent of men incontinent or
impotent or both; and
Whereas advanced imaging technologies could be combined
with treatment tools to perform image-guided, minimally
invasive and precisely targeted interventions, which will be
performed in outpatient clinics with minimal discomfort,
complications and costs and which will end the fear, pain,
suffering and costs that prostate cancer causes men and their
families: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of
Representatives that Congress should support research and
development of advanced imaging technologies for prostate
cancer detection and treatment.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to the rule, the gentlewoman from
Oregon (Ms. Hooley) and the gentleman from Nebraska (Mr. Terry) each
will control 20 minutes.
The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from Oregon.
General Leave
Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members may
have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and include
extraneous material on this resolution under consideration.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Is there objection to the request of the
gentlewoman from Oregon?
There was no objection.
Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. Res. 353, which calls for
increased support for research and development of advanced imaging
technologies for prostate cancer detection and treatment. This
resolution recognizes the inadequacies of the current way prostate
cancer is detected. There is an urgent need for the development of
advanced imaging technologies.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States
and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men. In 2008,
more than 218,000 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and more
than 27,000 men will die from the disease. This resolution hopes to use
the very successful model presented by the development of breast
imaging technologies which has led to life-saving breakthroughs in
detection, diagnosis and treatment of that insidious disease. Using
this research and development model, hopefully we can achieve the same
detection and life-saving successes for prostate cancer.
Imaging technology cannot only save lives, but also has the potential
for reducing health care costs with accurate and affordable diagnosis
of prostate cancer. This is an important piece of legislation for men's
health.
I want to thank my colleague, Congressman Elijah Cummings, for his
leadership on this issue and urge my colleagues to join me in support
of House Resolution 353.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself as much time as I may consume.
Mr. Speaker, I'm proud to rise in favor of House Resolution 353,
which is sponsored by the gentleman from Maryland, Elijah Cummings. He
has worked steadfastly on this issue that affects an approximate 2
million Americans currently diagnosed with prostate cancer, and I
commend him on his work.
House Resolution 353 supports the development and innovative advances
of using imaging technologies when detecting and treating prostate
cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common non-skin cancer in America and
takes the lives of nearly 28,000 American men each year. Over a
lifetime, that is one out of every six males will fall victim to this
silent killer.
Early prostate cancer usually has no symptoms and is commonly
detected through prostate cancer screening tests such as the PSA blood
test and DRE. The chance of being diagnosed with prostate cancer
increases rapidly after the age of 50. The most likely risk factors
that are associated to prostate cancer are age and family history of
the disease.
In addition to the PSA blood test and DRE, imaging is another useful
tool that can help with the detection and treatment of the disease. It
is important for men to take advantage of prostate screening exams
which could yield early detection when the disease is still curable.
I urge my fellow Members to support House Resolution 353.
Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.
Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield to the gentleman from Maryland as
much time as he may consume.
Mr. CUMMINGS. I want to thank the gentlelady for yielding, and I want
to thank everyone for all the hard work that went into getting this
bill to the floor today.
I rise today to express my appreciation to all of my colleagues who
are considering H. Res. 353 which I introduced expressing the need for
enhanced support for advanced imaging technologies for prostate cancer
detection and treatment. This legislation will lead to the development
of prostate cancer screening technologies that are on par with
mammography, while improving blood tests and providing education to the
general public.
Mr. Speaker, the tragedy of prostate cancer has touched so many
Americans, and I ask that you consider these issues:
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in the United States
and the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men. This
cancer strikes one in every six men, making it even more prevalent than
breast cancer, which strikes one in every seven women. In 2007, more
than 218,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and more than
27,000 men died from this disease. One new case occurs every 2.5
minutes, and a man dies from prostate cancer in this country every 19
minutes.
To compact the matter even further, African-American men are 56
percent more likely to develop prostate cancer compared with Caucasian
men and nearly 2.5 times as likely to die from the disease. Many of us
in the Congress, and indeed throughout the country, have either
personally been affected by the disease or had a loved one suffer from
it. For me, it was my father.
Tragically, our commitment to fighting the disease has not met its
impact. To date, the Department of Health and Human Services has failed
to invest substantial resources in promising advanced imaging
technologies for prostate cancer research. And while they have failed,
people have died. As a result of that, there are currently no reliable
accurate diagnostic tools for detection and treatment of prostate
cancer.
The implications of this reality have been grave. More than 1 million
men have unnecessary prostate biopsies each year, resulting in needless
suffering and an enormous waste of resources. At least 10 percent of
men undergoing surgery and 44 percent of men undergoing radiation
treatment would have benefited more from watchful waiting.
Current treatment is costly and causes many complications, including
impotence and incontinence, in up to 50 percent of men. I might note
here that Johns Hopkins Hospital and University, which are located in
my district, have done many pioneering things with regard to this
disease; as a matter of fact, they have some of the leading experts on
it.
More than 70,000--or about one in two--men experience treatment
failure each year. Mr. Speaker, in this country, with the greatest
medical system in the world, we can simply do better. And we must do
better. That is why I was so glad that I was joined by 101 of my
colleagues in sponsoring H. Res. 353. This legislation is a first step
in recognizing the critical need to address this very tragic disease.
I urge my colleagues to similarly take up the Prostate Research
Imaging and Men's Education Act, or PRIME
[[Page H5944]]
Act, H.R. 3563, which I have also introduced.
The bill provides $100 million per year for 5 years to expand
research on prostate cancer and provides the resources to develop
innovative and advanced imaging technologies for prostate cancer
detection, diagnosis and treatment. The bill also allocates $10 million
a year for 5 years for a national campaign to increase awareness about
the need for prostate cancer screening and the development of better
screening techniques.
Finally, it will spend $20 million a year for 5 years to improve
current, often unreliable, blood tests. Just the other day, Mr.
Speaker, as I stood in the bank, I ran into four men, all of whom had
recently gone through prostate cancer procedures. And it is so sad when
you hear them tell their various stories about how it has affected
their lives.
And I do believe that this Congress can do better. I believe that
this Nation can do better. So many men have said that they want to be
treated, but they are simply afraid; they're afraid of the pain,
they're afraid of the embarrassment. And I spend a lot of time in my
district preaching, almost, to men to make sure they get the test. But
if they don't have to have the test, if they can have a better method
of discovering this disease, I want them to have that.
Someone once said that in our time and in our space we can make a
difference. And we can make a difference. And I realize that a
resolution is one thing, something allocating money to do something is
another. And that's why this is more or less a precursor, hopefully,
for legislation which will bring about the resources so that we can
properly address this issue.
Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I recognize myself for as much time as I may
consume.
Mr. Speaker, in closing, let me just thank Mr. Cummings from Maryland
for drafting this resolution and his bill and congratulate him on
getting this resolution to the House floor. I encourage all of my
colleagues to support it.
With that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I, too, would like to thank my colleague
from Maryland (Mr. Cummings) for all of his hard work on this piece of
legislation. This is something that we should pass. I urge my
colleagues to vote ``aye.''
Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H.
Res. 353 and I urge my colleagues to support the resolution. I want to
thank Chairman Dingell and Ranking Member Barton for bringing this
resolution to the Floor today. I am proud to be a sponsor of this
resolution and I was honored to work with my friend and colleague from
Maryland, Representative Elijah Cummings--the Democrat sponsor of the
resolution--to bring some critically needed awareness to this issue.
Representative Cummings has been a true leader on this issue, and today
is the culmination of a two-year effort to shine a public spotlight on
this national tragedy. This resolution sends a strong signal to the
National Institutes of Health and the private sector that Congress is
prepared to help them move prostate cancer detection and treatment into
the 21st Century.
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer, other than some
kinds of skin cancer, among men in the United States, affecting at
least one in six American men, a rate comparable to breast cancer which
strikes one in seven American women. In fact, prostate cancer is the
second leading cause of cancer deaths among men in the United States,
after lung cancer, and the seventh leading cause of death overall for
men in this country. The National Cancer Institute estimates that in
2007 alone approximately 218,000 new cases of prostate cancer were
diagnosed and roughly 27,000 American men died as a result of this
disease.
Medical experts do not know what causes prostate cancer. Medical
experts do not know how to prevent prostate cancer, but they do know
that not smoking, maintaining a healthy diet, staying physically
active, and seeing your doctor regularly contribute to overall good
health.
While all men are at risk for prostate cancer, some factors increase
risk:
Family history. Men with a father or brother who has had prostate
cancer are at greater risk for developing it themselves.
Race. Prostate cancer is more common in some racial and ethnic groups
than in others, but medical experts do not know why. Prostate cancer is
more common in African-American men than in white men. It is less
common in Hispanic, Asian, Pacific Islander, and Native American men
than in white men.
It is important for men to take advantage of prostate cancer
screening exams in order to detect the disease at the earliest
opportunity, when it is still curable. Unfortunately, a recent study
funded by the National Cancer Institute demonstrated that the most
common available methods of detecting prostate cancer, the PSA blood
test and Digital Rectal Exam, DRE, the only preinvasive indicators
available for the detection of prostate cancer, are not particularly
adept at detecting prostate cancer. The study showed that many PSA
blood tests that screen for prostate cancer result in false-negative
reassurances and numerous false-positive alarms (15 percent of men with
normal PSA levels still have prostate cancer). Even when PSA levels are
abnormal, 88 percent of men end up not having prostate cancer that
would require surgery but undergo unnecessary biopsies. As a result
more than 1,000,000 U.S. men have prostate biopsies annually--costing
our health care system approximately $1.44 billion--many of which could
be eliminated if we had advanced diagnostic imaging tools.
Today, neither the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services nor
the Department of Defense devotes substantial resources to prostate
cancer imaging research. I have been told that the National Institutes
of Health spent only $10 million on prostate cancer detection research
last year out of a total prostate cancer research budget of $350
million. In short, there is no concerted Federal effort to bring the
equivalent of mammography to prostate cancer detection.
Breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer
resulted from the development of advanced imaging technologies led by
the Federal Government and I am convinced that Federal leadership could
lead to similar breakthroughs for prostate cancer. That is why we
introduced, along with my colleague Elijah Cummings of Maryland, H.
Res. 353--Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives that
there should be an increased Federal commitment supporting the
development of innovative advanced imaging technologies for prostate
cancer detection and treatment.
We owe it to ourselves, our fathers, grandfathers, brothers, sons,
husbands, and friends to make this effort. I urge my colleagues to
support H. Res 353.
Ms. HOOLEY. Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. The question is on the motion offered by the
gentlewoman from Oregon (Ms. Hooley) that the House suspend the rules
and agree to the resolution, H. Res. 353, as amended.
The question was taken.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. In the opinion of the Chair, two-thirds
being in the affirmative, the ayes have it.
Mr. TERRY. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a
quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not
present.
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Pursuant to clause 8 of rule XX and the
Chair's prior announcement, further proceedings on this motion will be
postponed.
The point of no quorum is considered withdrawn.
____________________