May 4, 2010
The Honorable Tom Harkin
The Honorable Thad Cochran
Chair
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education
Subcommittee on Labor-HHS-Education
Committee on Appropriations
Committee on Appropriations
United States Senate
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20510
Washington, DC 20510
Dear Chairman Harkin and Senator Cochran:
On behalf of One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC), a collaboration of public interest groups
representing the millions of cancer researchers, patients, survivors and their families throughout
the nation, thank you so much for your past efforts in the fight against cancer. We are looking
forward to your subcommittee'
s upcoming appropriations hearing on the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) and to hearing Dr. Collins'vision for the NIH and the future of biomedical and
clinical research. Of particular importance to us is the National Cancer Program, led by the
National Cancer Institute (NCI). Given that President Obama has made cancer research a top
priority, we anticipate that Dr. Collins will devote a portion of his testimony to cancer research at
NCI and across the NIH.
Research conducted through clinical trials drives development of new evidence that will deliver
the next generation of innovations to improve cancer care and patient quality of life.
Additionally, a strong national cancer clinical trials system will aide in the collection of high-
quality biospecimens, which is an area of great need in cancer genomics and other fields of
cancer research. At the recent House appropriations hearing for the NIH, the Institute of
Medicine'
s (IOM) recent report, A National Cancer Clinical Trials System for the 21st Century:
Reinvigorating the NCI Cooperative Group Program, released on April 15th, was referenced.
The 10 Cooperative Groups evaluated in this report conduct collaborative large-scale cancer
clinical trials that currently enroll about 25,000 participants each year.
This IOM report called out the dire need for increased federal funding to support clinical trials,
and particularly cooperative group trials a recommendation strongly supported across the
cancer community to sustain and build on the nation'
s high quality clinical research enterprise.
The IOM'
s recommendations were consistent with earlier findings resulting from NCI'
s multi-
year efforts to evaluate and improve its translational and clinical research infrastructure work
that began nearly five years ago when NCI established a Clinical Research Working Group and a
follow up Translational Research Working Group to examine all facets of these programs and
make recommendations for ensuring that institute resources were being maximized for the
advancement of cancer research.
While all would agree that the recommended clinical research system improvements are an
essential and ongoing process and more improvements are needed, the IOM report recognized
the work of NCI'
s Operational Efficiency Working Group and endorsed this group'
s
recommendations as well. In fact, many of the NCI working group'
s recommendations have
already been implemented, including:
Establishing industry and FDA consensus on standard Case Report forms;
Promoting the establishment of a national clinical trial information technology infrastructure
that is interoperable with NCI'
s cancer Biomedical Informatics Grid; and
Establishing a database on all clinical trials funded by NCI
One area where a solution is still in need is a lack of resources for the cooperative groups to
cover the costs associated with conducting clinical trials. The American Society of Clinical
Oncology has noted that one third of participating sites plan to limit their participation in
cooperative group trials in the coming year, with inadequate reimbursement being a key factor in
these decisions. The surest way of addressing this issue is through an overall increase in
appropriations for cancer research. OVAC is requesting that the NIH receive $35.2 billion in FY
2011, which would provide the National Cancer Institute with $5.79 billion.
We look forward to seeing NCI continue its efforts to revamp its translational and clinical
research enterprise. Improvements in all of these areas will greatly benefit all forms of cancer
and is something that is especially important for the high mortality cancers for which we have
yet to see significant progress. The member organizations of OVAC, and coalition advocates
and volunteers, are prepared to assist in every way we can to support efforts to strengthen our
nation'
s cancer programs. We look forward to continuing our dialogue with you about federal
cancer research and prevention programs as the FY 2011 budget and appropriations process
progresses.
Sincerely,
American Association for Cancer Research
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Society for Radiation Oncology
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Association of American Cancer Institutes
Bladder Cancer Action Network
C3: Colorectal Cancer Coalition
Charlene Miers Foundation for Cancer Research
Colon Cancer Alliance
CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation
Friends of Cancer Research
Intercultural Cancer Council Caucus
International Myeloma Foundation
Lance Armstrong Foundation
Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
LGBT Cancer Project Out With Cancer
Lung Cancer Alliance
Malecare Prostate Cancer Support
Men's Health Network
National Alliance for Hispanic Health
National Alliance of State Prostate Cancer Coalitions
National Cervical Cancer Coalition/HPV Cancer Coalition
National Coalition for Cancer Research (NCCR)
National Patient Advocate Foundation
Nevada Cancer Institute
Oncology Nursing Society
Ovarian Cancer National Alliance
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Prevent Cancer Foundation
Sarcoma Foundation of America
Society of Gynecologic Oncologists
Susan G. Komen for the Cure Advocacy Alliance