[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 160 (2014), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 14870]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                          FIGHT AGAINST CANCER

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. CHRIS STEWART

                                of utah

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 16, 2014

  Mr. STEWART. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak about the fight 
against cancer. Although there have been great medical strides made 
over the years, it is sobering to think that today, in this nation, 
someone will die of cancer every 60 seconds. That is a terrible 
outcome, and we need to remain vigilant in our fight to eradicate this 
awful disease.
  It is true that much has been done in recent decades to extend lives, 
to save lives, and to improve the lives of individuals who have cancer, 
but still there is much more that we can do. Patients are still being 
denied access to innovative treatments for reasons that have nothing to 
do with the effectiveness of a treatment and everything to do with the 
fact that we are studying, regulating, and paying for new cancer drugs 
in the same way we did 50 years ago. In the face of the Ebola crisis, 
the federal government and healthcare organizations have reduced 
regulatory barriers in order to reduce the time required to get new 
medicines to patients from six years to less than two. We owe it to 
cancer patients to allow them the same rapid access to these 
treatments, particularly when it might be their only hope of survival.
  In particular, there are three at least policy objectives we should 
be pursuing: (1) to direct the FDA to approve new life-extending drugs 
for cancer once Phase I studies show a high response rate; (2) to 
encourage programs that provide early detection and identification of 
genetic mutations that are known to increase cancer risks; and (3) to 
require that the FDA accelerate access to experimental treatments for 
patients who have run out of treatment options or are excluded from 
clinical trials.
  These are critical policy goals that must be considered by Congress. 
There is no doubt that some minds at the FDA may be difficult to 
change. But I believe that difficulty cannot be compared to the life 
and death decisions that our citizens and their families and friends 
face when access to the innovative cancer therapies that provide their 
best or only chance to save, prolong and improve their lives remains 
out of reach because of our lack of action.
  This is a challenge we can meet, and I'm optimistic that we will.

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