On December 1, the House approved, 385-0, a resolution (H. Res. 727) expressing support for greater awareness of ovarian cancer and designating December as National Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. The resolution, sponsored by Rep. Steve Israel (D-NY), is identical to a resolution (S. Res. 267) passed by the Senate earlier this fall (see The Source, 9/18/09). The resolution highlights the need to promote awareness of the disease and its symptoms, including a high and increasing mortality rate, the lack of reliable screening tests, and the high survival rates associated with early diagnosis.
A survivor of ovarian cancer, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) stated, “I know that had my doctors not caught my cancer at this earliest stage, the final outcome may have been very, very different. That is why it is so important that we pass this resolution and help raise the awareness about ovarian cancer. Ten women in the United States are diagnosed with a gynecological cancer every hour; 26,000 women succumb to these terrible cancers each year. Women who detect their ovarian cancer in stage one are more than four times [more] likely to beat it than those who find out in stages three or four…[T]oday, we can do our part by standing up against ovarian cancer and passing this resolution…I urge my colleagues to support this resolution, to support life, to help to support saving lives.”
Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) added, “Currently, there is no reliable early detection test for ovarian cancer. In June 2007, for the first time a national consensus statement on ovarian cancer symptoms was developed. It described the symptoms, thereby making it easier for women to learn and remember them. However, because of the lack of reliable screening tests, 75 percent of ovarian cancer cases are diagnosed in an advanced stage, resulting in a survival rate of less than 45 percent. This has to change…My own mother passed away from breast cancer. Cancer kills too many Americans, roughly 1,500 people a day in this country. I think it is a shame that we don’t give more national importance to fighting the war against cancer.”
