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June 22. 2012 9:05PM
Officials discuss need for more cancer research funding
NASHUA — The best way to attack cancer is for research funding to be readily available, which may ultimately give hope to the 8,350 New Hampshire residents who will be diagnosed with cancer this year, according to officials who gathered Friday for the 2012 Congressional Briefing on Cancer Research Funding at the new Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
“Cancer is a huge public health problem,” said Dr. Mark Israel, director of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center. Although tremendous advances have been made, Israel said funding from the federal government for cancer research is fragile.
At Norris Cotton Cancer Center, 125 scientists hold more than $65 million in federal funding, seeking grant support each year to cover lab expenses, equipment and salaries.
It costs a lot of money, but it helps people like Sue Mousseau. She is a wife, a mother of two, a paralegal and currently a cancer patient at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
Since being diagnosed last September with a rare type of cancer, T-Cell Lymphoma, Mousseau has made countless trips to Lebanon for chemotherapy and other treatments — a lengthy car ride from her home in Hudson.
But when the new Norris Cotton Cancer Center opened its doors in Nashua six months ago, Mousseau said she was not only provided with a more convenient location for her infusions, but also a top-notch medical facility.
Although her first two aggressive forms of chemotherapy were not successful, she is optimistic that this latest round of treatment will eventually enable her to receive a stem cell transplant and hopefully get her on the path to recovery.
According to Christopher Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, federal support of cancer research has put the nation on the verge of some incredible breakthroughs.
“We need to bring these potential discoveries to fruition because they will lead to treatments for some of the most deadly cancers,” said Hansen. “I am convinced that members of Congress will support funding when they understand this research is benefiting their own constituents, and is being conducted right in their own backyard.”
According to information provided at the briefing, federal funding for medical research and cancer prevention programs has had a role in every major advance against the disease, resulting in 350 more lives saved from cancer each day compared to 1991.
“But we are not where we need to be nationally,” said Congressman Charles Bass (R-NH), whose mother died of breast cancer in 1972. He is currently working on a proposed bill, Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act 2012, that would maximize federal investments and stimulate collaborative projects to potentially prevent breast cancer by 2020.
Cancer is still the No. 1 killer of Americans under the age of 85, said Andrew MacLean, chairman of the Board of Directors for the American Cancer Society’s New England Division.
The federal government needs to increase its budget to tackle this disease, he said, adding there is more critical work to be done.
While the survival rates are much better today than they were decades ago, the amount of people being diagnosed with cancer is approaching epidemic levels, according to Hansen.
For people like Donald Raymond of Barnstead, cutting edge therapy and clinical trials have changed his future. Diagnosed with advanced colon cancer in 2010, Raymond, 61, was fortunate enough to begin experimental protocols that shrunk his cancer, which is now undetectable.
Advances like this are not possible without major funding and major support, explained Dr. Gerald Gehr of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
“Don’s life proves that cancer therapy is worthwhile. He is the face of cancer research,” Gehr said.
khoughton@newstote.com
“Cancer is a huge public health problem,” said Dr. Mark Israel, director of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center. Although tremendous advances have been made, Israel said funding from the federal government for cancer research is fragile.
At Norris Cotton Cancer Center, 125 scientists hold more than $65 million in federal funding, seeking grant support each year to cover lab expenses, equipment and salaries.
It costs a lot of money, but it helps people like Sue Mousseau. She is a wife, a mother of two, a paralegal and currently a cancer patient at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
Since being diagnosed last September with a rare type of cancer, T-Cell Lymphoma, Mousseau has made countless trips to Lebanon for chemotherapy and other treatments — a lengthy car ride from her home in Hudson.
But when the new Norris Cotton Cancer Center opened its doors in Nashua six months ago, Mousseau said she was not only provided with a more convenient location for her infusions, but also a top-notch medical facility.
Although her first two aggressive forms of chemotherapy were not successful, she is optimistic that this latest round of treatment will eventually enable her to receive a stem cell transplant and hopefully get her on the path to recovery.
According to Christopher Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, federal support of cancer research has put the nation on the verge of some incredible breakthroughs.
“We need to bring these potential discoveries to fruition because they will lead to treatments for some of the most deadly cancers,” said Hansen. “I am convinced that members of Congress will support funding when they understand this research is benefiting their own constituents, and is being conducted right in their own backyard.”
According to information provided at the briefing, federal funding for medical research and cancer prevention programs has had a role in every major advance against the disease, resulting in 350 more lives saved from cancer each day compared to 1991.
“But we are not where we need to be nationally,” said Congressman Charles Bass (R-NH), whose mother died of breast cancer in 1972. He is currently working on a proposed bill, Accelerating the End of Breast Cancer Act 2012, that would maximize federal investments and stimulate collaborative projects to potentially prevent breast cancer by 2020.
Cancer is still the No. 1 killer of Americans under the age of 85, said Andrew MacLean, chairman of the Board of Directors for the American Cancer Society’s New England Division.
The federal government needs to increase its budget to tackle this disease, he said, adding there is more critical work to be done.
While the survival rates are much better today than they were decades ago, the amount of people being diagnosed with cancer is approaching epidemic levels, according to Hansen.
For people like Donald Raymond of Barnstead, cutting edge therapy and clinical trials have changed his future. Diagnosed with advanced colon cancer in 2010, Raymond, 61, was fortunate enough to begin experimental protocols that shrunk his cancer, which is now undetectable.
Advances like this are not possible without major funding and major support, explained Dr. Gerald Gehr of the Norris Cotton Cancer Center.
“Don’s life proves that cancer therapy is worthwhile. He is the face of cancer research,” Gehr said.
khoughton@newstote.com
