June 25, 2008 marks a revolutionary day in history

[RandyW]

Senators Chuck Hagel and Dianne Feinstein Make Lung Cancer Matter

June 25, 2008 marks a revolutionary day in history for anybody who cares about Lung Cancer, the Number One Cancer Killer in this country. It's almost tantamount to July 4th, Independence Day, for Lung Cancer. For the first time, in the last four decades, Lung Cancer finally has a voice, thanks to Senators Chuck Hagel, Dianne Feinstein and the tireless work over the last five years of Laurie Fenton, Sheila Ross and the Lung Cancer Alliance.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) June 28, 2008 -- June 25, 2008 marks a revolutionary day in history for anybody who cares about Lung Cancer, the Number One Cancer Killer in this country. It's almost tantamount to July 4th, Independence Day, for Lung Cancer. For the first time, in the last four decades, Lung Cancer finally has a voice, thanks to Senators Chuck Hagel, Dianne Feinstein and the tireless work over the last five years of Laurie Fenton, Sheila Ross and the Lung Cancer Alliance.

Dr. David Jablons, co-Founder of the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation and Board member of the Lung Cancer Alliance stated, "Today the gauntlet has been thrown down and Lung Cancer will no longer wallow in obscurity, underfunding, and beneath the burden of abysmal survival. I applaud and deeply thank Senators Chuck Hagel and Dianne Feinstein for their vision, courage and pioneering spirit to bring the Lung Cancer epidemic to the public debate and as a priority for health care research and funding. For much too long, Lung Cancer patients have suffered and died as a result of inadequate research and treatment options due to the stigma associated with smoking-related diseases. This bill literally changes everything. It is time that the Senate and Congress realize that nearly 75 million of their constituents are at risk for this disease and that their timely passage of this initiative will be the wake-up call to the nation for Lung Cancer to get the proportionate funding and attention that it rightly deserves and desperately needs. This is great. I love Senators Hagel and Feinstein !!!"

The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation acknowledged both Senators in the last two years by honoring each with the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation's Luminosity Award. The Luminosity Award honors courageous individuals who light the way in the global fight against Lung Cancer and prioritize funding for research so that ultimately a cure for the deadliest of all cancers will be found.

Founder Bonnie J. Addario's reaction to the announcement of the Lung Cancer Mortality Act of 2008: "I was in touch with Senator Hagel's office last week from a distance at the 9th International Lung Cancer Congress in Hawaii, when I first learned about this Act. I can't thank Senators Hagel and Feinstein enough for continuing to make Lung Cancer a national priority. It is obviously a priority to me, an accidental Lung Cancer Survivor, and my family, and every person involved with my Foundation. With over 450 people dying of Lung Cancer a day in the U.S. alone, I personally don't understand why this is not already a national priority. I thank both Senators for bringing this to the forefront and I look forward to seeing this Act enacted. It's long overdue. By about four decades. I am so grateful to the scientists and researchers and physicians and doctors who have made such strides in the survival rates for breast cancer (89.9%), prostate cancer (99.9%), and ovarian cancer (64.8%) since the National Cancer Act in 1971. Kudos to all of you. The overall survival rate for Lung Cancer has remained the same (15.5%). That needs to change. Thank you, Senators. Thank you, Lung Cancer Alliance. Thank you, in advance, to the members of the Senate, and eventually the House, who will pass this. We look forward to working very closely with you and accelerating the cure for Lung Cancer."

Dr. Deborah Morosini, BJALCF Board member, heard the news, and responded;

"I applaud Senators Hagel and Feinstein for their sage wisdom and compassionate actions. Each of them has shown steadfast and unwavering support to eradicate a disease that is so lethal and widespread that it has almost become part of our global landscape. Unacceptable, but tolerated. No more. I personally thank them for their refusal to remain complacent--for their vision---sticktoitiveness, and for raising their powerful voices to refuse to allow Lung Cancer to remain an inconvenient fact...an inconvenient truth. I am deeply grateful to these visionary leaders."

On behalf of everyone at the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation we applaud and thank Senators Chuck Hagel and Dianne Feinstein and the Lung Cancer Alliance for beginning to put an end to the world's Number One Cancer Killer.

The following press release is reprinted with permission from the Office of Senator Hagel.

June 25, 2008, WASHINGTON, DC -- U.S. Senators Chuck Hagel (R-NE) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) today introduced the Lung Cancer Mortality Reduction Act of 2008. This legislation would establish a coordinated federal interagency policy aimed to reduce the lung cancer mortality rate. The Lung Cancer Mortality Act of 2008 implements the policy recommendations laid out in S. Res 87, which Senator Hagel has introduced the last two Congresses.

"The federal government should implement a comprehensive policy to help reduce the mortality rate of lung cancer, which accounts for 28% of all cancer deaths in men and women in the United States. We have seen great advancements in prostate and breast cancer survival rates; and we must commit ourselves to making the same progress with lung cancer. We must bring people together and have the resources to fight this insidious disease," Hagel said.

"Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in both men and women, but efforts to fund research and innovative new drug therapies have been shortchanged when compared to other cancers. This bill would boost funding and expand research into the causes and treatment of this deadly scourge. It's time for the federal government to step up its efforts and make fighting lung cancer a national priority," Feinstein said.

This legislation authorizes additional funding for specific Institutes at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to expand and intensify their research into causes and treatments for lung cancer. It also calls upon the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to implement an early disease research and management program and encourages the development of drugs or devices for the prevention and treatment of lung cancer.

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