[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14387]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               SENSE OF CONGRESS REGARDING OVARIAN CANCER

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                            HON. DAN BURTON

                               of indiana

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, July 22, 2002

  Mr. BURTON of Indiana. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong support of H. 
Con. Res. 385, a resolution which states that the Department of Health 
and Human Services should conduct or support research on certain tests 
to screen for ovarian cancer, and that health care programs and health 
insurance plans should cover these tests.
  Specifically, H. Con. Res. 385 would encourage the development and 
wide-spread use of a blood test that would detect ovarian cancer in its 
early stages, thus significantly reducing fatalities that result from 
the most lethal form of ovarian cancer. Currently, more than 75 percent 
of women with ovarian cancer are not diagnosed until they are in the 
fourth stage of the disease. The new protein-screening blood test would 
detect almost all ovarian cancers in the first stage of the disease 
when 5-year survival rates approach 95 percent. This is an extremely 
important step in helping to eliminate the threat of ovarian cancer. 
Early detection is critical for survival success and should be 
everyone's goal.
  There are many new cancer screening devices becoming available, and 
we must use these new technologies to help protect more Americans from 
the scourge of cancer. I know first-hand the pain that cancer can put a 
family through. On May 10, 2002 my wife passed away after a very long 
and difficult battle with colon cancer. I hope that all health 
insurance plans utilize to the fullest extent existing and promising 
detection methods for all cancers. Early detection can go a long way 
toward sparing other families from the pain of having a loved one 
suffer from cancer.

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