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Breast Cancer Research

Despite the gains in cancer treatments, and the unprecedented drop in the rate of cancer deaths this year, there is still no cure for this ravaging disease. Furthermore, the incidence of cancer will only increase as aging baby boomers experience a new wave of diagnoses.

We need a renewed national commitment to cancer research equal to the cancer crisis. We need to invest in research aimed at overcoming disparities such that racial and ethnic minorities, the poor and those with little or no insurance are more likely to receive quality cancer care and are, therefore, less likely to die. Moreover, we need a renewed commitment to translational research, which is essential to ensuring that scientific discoveries made in the laboratory reach cancer patients in the form of improved diagnostics and innovative clinical treatment. Every day more than 1,500 Americans die of cancer, including 100 who die of breast cancer, underscoring the urgency of getting discoveries to patients as quickly as possible.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure urges Members of Congress to make cancer research and its application a priority during consideration of the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 appropriations process. Specifically, Komen for the Cure supports research that will help reduce health disparities for minorities and underserved populations, as well as research on the potential links between the environment and breast cancer.

Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program
National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act
Breast Cancer Research Stamp

Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program

In 1992, Congress established the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense (DoD). The peer-reviewed, biomedical research programs have funded cutting-edge research in breast cancer, prostate and ovarian cancers, chronic myelogenous leukemia, neruofibromatosis, among other cancers. The goal of the Department of Defense breast cancer research program is to fund innovative research, meet unmet research needs and bring new investigators into the field of breast cancer research. Appropriations for the breast cancer research program from 1992 through fiscal year 2005 totaled approximately $1.81 billion. Since the establishment of the program, nearly 4,000 breast cancer research grants have been funded.

The 110th Congress funded the DoD Breast Cancer CDMRP with $127.5 million in the Continuing Resolution for FY 2007 in February. Komen is actively monitoring the viability of the CDMRP in the 110th Congress. Komen urges Congress to appropriate $150 million in FY 2008 and continues to work to retain and promote increased funding levels for these important research programs.

National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities

Because the burden of cancer disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minority groups, Komen also supports the work of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NCMHHD). The NCMHHD promotes health and coordinates the efforts of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities. NCMHHD not only conducts and supports basic, clinical, social and behavioral research, but also promotes research infrastructure and training and reaches out to minority and other health disparity communities as well.

In the area of breast cancer, the NCMHHD is working closely with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to enhance research on women who have never undergone screening and identify barriers to screening, including cultural and economic barriers. Additionally, the NCMHHD is working with the NCI to determine if women of health disparity populations are receiving the recommended treatments for breast cancer and to identify patient outcomes in this population.

In order to continue and expand on the vital research and education programs being conducted by the NCMHHD,  Komen continues to urge Congress to provide the NCMHHD with appropriate funding levels to advance its critical work coordinating and advancing health disparities research across the NIH.

Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act

In order to more fully understand the causes of breast cancer, Komen believes that biomedical research to examine potential environmental factors related to breast cancer should be expanded. We believe this research endeavor should be a collaborative effort involving the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), the National Cancer Institute (NCI), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).

In February 2007, Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) sponsored the bill in the House of Representatives, and Senator Harry Reid sponsored the bill in the Senate. If passed, the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act would establish grant programs to expand biomedical, epidemiological and behavioral research related to the etiology of breast cancer and the role of the environment. Susan G. Komen for the Cure supports this bill, and we also ask Congress to devote the necessary resources to fund meaningful research on the potential links between the environment and breast cancer.

Breast Cancer Research Stamp

The Breast Cancer Research semi-postal stamp was issued on July 29, 1998, at a "First Day" ceremony held at the White House. It was the first semi-postal stamp and has become the top-selling commemorative stamp in U.S. history with nearly 800 million stamps sold, surpassing the Elvis stamp. Selling for 55 cents, the Breast Cancer Research Stamp is 14 cents more than a traditional first-class postage stamp.

By law, 70 percent of the net amount raised from the stamp goes to the National Institutes of Health, and 30 percent goes to the Medical Research Program at the Department of Defense for breast cancer research grants. To date, the stamp has raised more than $55.5 million for breast cancer research.

Every two years, the stamp must be reauthorized. The stamp is currently authorized for sale through December 31, 2007, and is up for reauthorization this year. Congressman Joe Baca of California has introduced legislation (H.R. 1064) to reauthorize the stamp this year with his bill, the Breast Cancer Research Stamp Reauthorization Act, and Senator Dianne Feinstein has introduced similar legislation (S. 597) in the Senate. Additionally, Missouri Congressman William "Lacy" Clay has introduced legislation (H.R. 1236) to permanently authorize the Breast Cancer Research Stamp.

Unlike many programs that are not reauthorized timely but continue to operate, the BCRS must be reauthorized or the U.S. Postal Service will discontinue selling the stamp. In fact, in 2003 Congress did not reauthorize the stamp by the December 31 deadline. As a result, the stamp was not available for sale for the first three weeks of 2004, and valuable dollars for life-saving cancer research was not collected during that time.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure believes the Breast Cancer Research Stamp is an important effort to highlight the importance of breast cancer and to provide additional funding for breast cancer research. Komen applauds and strongly supports Members of Congress in extending the Breast Cancer Research Stamp.