Prostate Cancer Roundtable Announces Updated National Policy Agenda

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Men's Health Network

Jan 31, 2011, 01:03 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In the interests of the hundreds of thousands of American men who are at risk each year for a diagnosis of prostate cancer, and the estimated 2.2 million men living today who have been diagnosed with this highly prevalent form of cancer, the members of the Prostate Cancer Roundtable have updated their shared, national policy agenda which will act as the basis for discussions with policy makers starting in 2011.

"This policy agenda is based on a highly constructive meeting of the members of the Prostate Cancer Roundtable in Washington, D.C., on November 30, 2010," stated Scott Williams, vice president of Men's Health Network.

"The members of the Roundtable group are determined to work closely together to ensure continuing progress against the most prevalent form of cancer affecting men in America today," added Skip Lockwood, president of ZERO – The Project to End Prostate Cancer.

The fundamental priorities of this policy agenda are as follows:

  • We seek an increase in the appropriation to support the successful work of the Prostate Cancer Research Program within the Department of Defense's Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program – from its current $80 million to $120 million per year.
  • We continue to work with the broader cancer community to support increased federal funding for cancer research through the annual appropriations process for the National Institutes of Health, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control.
  • Within the annual appropriation for the National Cancer Institute, we seek an increase in the current funding of $294 million for basic and translational prostate cancer research to $400 million per year.
  • We seek passage of a bill to create an Office on Men's Health within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that can mirror the 20-year successes of the Office on Women's Health established in 1991.
  • We support legislative, research, and educational efforts needed to effectively combat – and ideally to eliminate -- the epidemic of prostate cancer among African American men.
  • We are concerned about efforts to make cost a primary determining factor in coverage of specific products and services, including the application of LCA to Medicare benefits.
  • We seek the establishment of a Prostate Cancer Scientific Advisory Board for the Office of the Chief Scientist at the US Food & Drug Administration, with the goal of accelerating the real-time sharing of the latest research data and the movement of new medicines into clinical practice in the best interests of patients.

"Since early in 2009, the members of Prostate Cancer Roundtable have been working successfully to ensure that Congress and the Executive Branch of the government understand how prostate cancer is affecting the lives of men and their families all across America," said Wendy Poage, president of the Prostate Conditions Education Council.

"Our organizations plan to aggressively continue efforts to ensure continued progress against a disease that takes the lives of some 30,000 Americans every single year, and which is particularly widespread among African Americans," stated Thomas Farrington of the Prostate Health Education Network.

About Prostate Cancer

Prostate cancer is the most prevalent form of cancer among American males. Nearly 220,000 men were projected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2010, and about 32,000 were projected to die from this disease. Any man may be at risk for prostate cancer, but increased risk factors are known to include race, family history, elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels, positive findings on a digital rectal examination, and selected pathological findings on prior biopsies.

About the Prostate Cancer Roundtable

The Prostate Cancer Roundtable, representing America's prostate cancer community, is a group of independent, patient-centric, not-for-profit organizations that cooperate to foster the development of policies supporting high quality prostate cancer research, the prevention and early detection of clinically significant prostate cancer, the appropriate care and effective treatment of men with prostate cancer, and the appropriate education of all men at risk for this disease.

The members of the Prostate Cancer Roundtable are:

SOURCE Men's Health Network