[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 98 (Wednesday, June 27, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S4676]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mrs. BOXER (for herself and Mr. Kerry):
  S. 3345. A bill to provide for research and education to improve 
screening, detection and diagnosis of prostate cancer; to the Committee 
on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
  Mrs. BOXER. Mr. President, today I rise to introduce the Prostate 
Cancer Detection Research and Education Act. This important legislation 
addresses the urgent need for the development of new technologies to 
detect and diagnose prostate cancer, and for the education of our 
fathers, brothers, and sons about the dangers of this deadly disease.
  Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer in men, and is the 
second leading cause of cancer related deaths in men, with 240,000 new 
cases and 28,000 prostate cancer related deaths predicted in 2012.
  Unfortunately, current screening techniques for prostate cancer 
result in some false-negative reassurances and false-positive alarms. 
In addition, the prostate is one of the last organs in a human body 
where biopsies are performed blindly, which can miss cancer even when 
multiple samples are taken.
  Prostate Cancer Detection Research and Education Act brings together 
a Advisory Council of experts to evaluate the current science and 
outline a path forward to the ultimate goal--developing a reliable test 
or tests that can detect prostate cancer and diagnose how severe the 
cancer is.
  The Prostate Cancer Detection Research and Education Act will mirror 
the investment the Federal government made in advanced imaging 
technologies, which led to life-saving breakthroughs in detection, 
diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. This bill directs the 
Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, HHS, to use 
the plan developed by the Advisory Council to coordinate and intensify 
federal research to develop and validate an accurate test for prostate 
cancer.
  The Prostate Cancer Detection Research and Education Act would also 
create a national campaign conducted through HHS to increase awareness 
about the need for prostate cancer screening, and the development of 
better screening techniques. Since 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, this campaign will 
work with the Offices of Minority Health at HHS and the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention to ensure that this effort will reach 
the men most at risk from this disease.
  Government investment in coordinating research and education could be 
key to diagnosing prostate cancer earlier and more accurately. We need 
to strengthen our efforts to bring the tools doctors use to fight this 
disease into the 21st century. I urge my colleagues to join me in 
supporting this effort, and cosponsoring this legislation.
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