AACR Celebrates Unanimous Passage of Resolution Declaring May as National Cancer Research Month
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — On May 27th, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved a Congressional resolution to designate May 2011 as National Cancer Research Month.
Introduced by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Texas), Senate Resolution 172 (Adobe Acrobat Reader required) recognizes the importance of cancer research and declares May “National Cancer Research Month.” Feinstein and Hutchison sent a letter to their Senate colleagues, urging them to cosponsor the resolution “in celebration and support of this lifesaving work.”
Seventeen additional senators served as cosponsors of the resolution, including Mark Begich (D-Alaska), Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), Scott Brown (R-Mass.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Robert Casey (D-Pa.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), James Inhofe (R-Okla.), Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), Tim Johnson (D-S.D.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.), Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.). The resolution was also endorsed by more than 65 national organizations and cancer centers.
“The Senate’s unanimous support of this resolution reinforces the nation’s long-standing commitment to cancer research and demonstrates that our Congressional leaders clearly understand the need to continue and indeed strengthen the nation’s efforts against the 200 diseases we call cancer,” said Margaret Foti, Ph.D., M.D. (h.c.), chief executive officer of the AACR. “We must pursue every avenue to conquer cancer with a sense of urgency. Research in preventing, detecting and treating cancer is essential to public health.”
The resolution recognizes the scientists and clinicians across the United States dedicated to fighting cancer and highlights key cancer statistics. Among them, the resolution notes that the five-year survival rate for all cancers combined has increased from 50 percent to 68 percent during the past 35 years. While there are currently 12 million cancer survivors in the United States, more than 500,000 Americans die from cancer each year.
The AACR believes that it is vitally important to underscore the value of cancer research at this juncture, as there are many promising developments against cancer in the pipeline waiting to be translated for the good of cancer patients.
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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world’s oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. Including Cancer Discovery, the AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals represented 20 percent of the market share of total citations in 2009. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists.
Media Contact:
Michele Sharp
(267) 646-0622
Michele.Sharp@aacr.org
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