WASHINGTON, DC – Congressmen G. K. Butterfield (D-NC), Michael McCaul (R-TX), Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Walter Jones (R-NC) today introduced the National Prostate Cancer Plan Act that would establish a council of federal agencies, patients, and medical experts charged with drafting and implementing a national strategy to combat prostate cancer.
“Prostate cancer is an epidemic and has a disproportionate impact African Americans,” said Butterfield. “Black men have the highest prostate cancer rates of any racial or ethnic group and are more than twice as likely to die from the disease. The National Prostate Cancer Plan Act marks an important step forward in finding treatments and cures to a disease that kills nearly 30,000 Americans every year.”
“I’m pleased to join Representatives Butterfield, Jones and Cummings in support of legislation to address a serious health risk that affects one in seven American men,” said McCaul. “Prostate cancer, sometimes called the ‘silent killer’, affects close to 18,000 men each year in Texas. In addition to supporting critical biomedical research at places like the National Cancer Institute, we must focus our efforts to develop a strategy to beat back this terrible disease which is exactly what the National Prostate Cancer Plan Act will do.”
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and is the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in men. One in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime with nearly 221,000 new cases diagnosed each year. But current screening techniques can be improved in order to avoid inaccurate results that either leave many men believing they are cancer-free or lead to painful, costly, and unnecessary procedures.
“Men are more likely to be diagnosed with prostate cancer as they age, so the development of more accurate screening techniques and new treatment options is critical to increasing quality of life and survival rates, particularly among older men,” said Butterfield.
“So many of us have either been personally affected by prostate cancer or have lost a loved one who suffered from the disease,” Cummings said. “One in seven men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetimes. The National Prostate Cancer Plan Act will improve detection and diagnosis of this disease so that we can provide these men with the best chance for a long, healthy life. This bill represents a giant step forward in our battle to combat this curable disease and literally save lives.”
The National Prostate Cancer Plan Act would direct the National Prostate Cancer Council to develop and implement a national strategic plan to accelerate the innovation of diagnostic tools to improve prostate cancer screening and early detection, while also helping to reduce unnecessary treatment. The Council would also be responsible for evaluating federal prostate cancer programs and coordinating prostate cancer research and services across all federal agencies.
Jones said, “Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, and the National Prostate Cancer Plan Act would establish a national plan to improve prostate cancer screening and early detection. It is my hope that a national prostate cancer plan will bring down the high rate of prostate cancer and allow men to live healthier lives.”
The legislation has been endorsed by the Prostate Cancer Foundation, American Urological Association, Prostate Cancer Research Institute, and ZERO – The End of Prostate Cancer. The bill is modeled after the National Alzheimer’s Project Act which passed Congress with broad bipartisan support in 2010.
Senators Barbara Boxer (D-CA) and Jeff Sessions (R-AL) have sponsored a companion bill in the U.S. Senate.