Political Quotes

“I am pleased to be joined today by Senator Hutchison in the introduction of the Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young Adult Cancer Survivorship Research and Quality of Life Act of 2011. The population of survivors of childhood cancer has grown exponentially over the years. In 1960, only 4 percent of children with cancer survived more than 5 years. Today, nearly 80 percent of children with cancer survive more than five years. While this is heartening news, as a result of their cancer and treatment, many of these children unfortunately have health complications, often life-threatening, for years to come. Indeed, after beating cancer, as many as \2/3\ of these children suffer from late effects of their disease or treatment, including second cancers and heart and lung damage. There are also serious psychosocial impacts that these survivors face. With so many facing the risk of these late effects, it is critical that resources are made available to help these survivors, especially those in underserved communities. Our legislation would enhance research on the late effects of childhood cancers and improve collaboration among providers so that doctors are better able to care for this population as they age. It would also establish a new pilot program to begin to explore models of care for childhood cancer survivors.…”