Daniel Inouye: “today I introduce the U.S. Military Cancer Institute Research Collaborative Act of 2004. This legislation would formally…”

“today I introduce the U.S. Military Cancer Institute Research Collaborative Act of 2004. This legislation would formally establish the U.S. Military Cancer Institute (USMCI), and support the collaborative augmentation of research efforts in cancer epidemiology, prevention and control. Although the USMCI already exists as an informal collaborative effort, this bill will formally establish the institution with a mission of providing for the maintenance of health in the military by enhancing cancer research and treatment, and studying the epidemiological causes of cancer among various ethnic groups. By formally establishing the USMCI, it will be in a better position to unite military research efforts with other cancer research centers. Cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment are significant issues for the military population, thus the USMCI was organized to coordinate the existing military cancer assets. The USMCI has a comprehensive database of its beneficiary population of 9 million people. The military's nationwide tumor registry, the Automated Central Tumor Registry, has acquired more than 180,000 cases in the last 14 years, and a serum repository of 30 million specimens from military personnel collected sequentially since 1987. This population is predominantly Caucasian, African American, and Hispanic. The Director of the USMCI, Dr. John Potter, is a professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).”