Eshoo Introduces Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Washington, D.C. - Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (D - Palo Alto) continued the fight today against one of the nation's leading cancer killers, Pancreatic Cancer. The Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act will establish a National Pancreatic Cancer Initiative to provide a greater focus on the disease and give the National Cancer Institute the necessary tools to discover ways to diagnose and treat pancreatic cancer in its early stages, and to one day prevent it. This is the second Congress Rep. Eshoo has introduced the legislation.

"For too many people, pancreatic cancer is a death sentence," said Eshoo. "We need to invest in research and early diagnosis of the disease. This legislation has the potential to make great strides in the direction of prevention and early diagnosis and we owe it to the thousands of Americans suffering from pancreatic cancer today as well as those who lost their lives to it."

More than 37,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year and 75% of them will die within a year of the diagnosis. Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal and overlooked types of cancer. As the overall mortality rate for other types of cancer in America has declined, the number of Americans dying from pancreatic cancer has increased.

The Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act will provide renewed focus on research of the disease in addition to creating a National Pancreatic Cancer Initiative. The National Pancreatic Cancer Initiative will help to identify the research priorities, infrastructure needs, and workforce training requirements that are needed to make progress in pancreatic cancer research.

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