II 

109TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2393 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to advance medical research and 

treatments into pediatric cancers, ensure patients and families have access to the current treatments and information regarding pediatric cancers, establish a population-based national childhood cancer database, 

and promote public awareness of pediatric cancers. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 9, 2006 

Mr. COLEMAN (for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. TALENT, Mr. LIEBERMAN, Mr. 

ISAKSON, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. CARPER, Mr. BUNNING, 

Mrs. LINCOLN, Ms. MURKOWSKI, Mr. LAUTENBERG, and Mr. BURNS) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to advance medical 

research and treatments into pediatric cancers, ensure 

patients and families have access to the current treatments and information regarding pediatric cancers, establish a population-based national childhood cancer 

database, and promote public awareness of pediatric cancers. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conquer Childhood 

3 Cancer Act of 2006’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress makes the following findings: 

6 (1) Cancer kills more children than any other 

7 disease. 

8 (2) Each year cancer kills more children be9 tween 1 and 20 years of age than asthma, diabetes, 

10 cystic fibrosis, and AIDS, combined. 

11 (3) Every year, over 12,500 young people are 

12 diagnosed with cancer. 

13 (4) Each year about 2,300 children and teen14 agers die from cancer. 

15 (5) One in every 330 Americans develops cancer 

16 before age 20. 

17 (6) Some forms of childhood cancer have proven 

18 to be so resistant that even in spite of the great re19 search strides made, most of those children die. Up 

20 to 75 percent of the children with cancer can now 

21 be cured. 

22 (7) The causes of most childhood cancers are 

23 not yet known. 

24 (8) Childhood cancers are mostly those of the 

25 white blood cells (leukemias), brain, bone, the lym26 phatic system, and tumors of the muscles, kidneys, 


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1 and nervous system. Each of these behaves dif2 ferently, but all are characterized by an uncontrolled 

3 proliferation of abnormal cells. 

4 (9) Eighty percent of the children who are diag5 nosed with cancer have disease which has already 

6 spread to distant sites in the body. 

7 (10) Ninety percent of children with a form of 

8 pediatric cancer are treated at one of the more than 

9 200 Children’s Oncology Group member institutions 

10 throughout the United States. 

11 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

12 It is the purpose of this Act to authorize appropria13 tions to— 

14 (1) encourage and expand the support for bio15 medical research programs of the existing National 

16 Cancer Institute-designated multi-center national in17 frastructure for pediatric cancer research; 

18 (2) establish a population-based national child19 hood cancer database (the Children’s Cancer Re20 search Network) to evaluate incidence trends of 

21 childhood cancers and to enable the investigations of 

22 genetic epidemiology in order to identify causes to 

23 aid in development of prevention strategies; 

24 (3) provide informational services to patients 

25 and families affected by childhood cancer; 


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1 (4) support the development, construction and 

2 operation of a comprehensive online public informa3 tion system on childhood cancers and services avail4 able to families; and 

5 (5) establish a fellowship program in pediatric 

6 cancer research to foster clinical and translational 

7 research career development in pediatric oncologists 

8 in the early stages of their career. 

9 SEC. 4. PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH AND AWARENESS. 

10 Subpart 1 of part C of title IV of the Public Health 

11 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) is amended by adding 

12 at the end thereof the following: 

13 ‘‘SEC. 417E. PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH AND AWARE14 NESS. 

15 ‘‘(a) PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH.— 

16 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL PROGRAMS OF RESEARCH EXCEL17 LENCE IN PEDIATRIC CANCERS.—The Director of 

18 NIH, acting through the National Cancer Institute, 

19 shall establish special programs of research excel20 lence in the area of pediatric cancers. Such pro21 grams shall demonstrate a balanced approach to re22 search cause, prognosis, prevention, diagnosis, and 

23 treatment of pediatric cancers that foster translation 

24 of basic research findings into innovative interven25 tions applied to patients. 


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1 ‘‘(2) FELLOWSHIP OF EXCELLENCE IN PEDI2 ATRIC CANCER RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall de3 velop a grant mechanism for the establishment, in 

4 cooperation with the National Cancer Institute-sup5 ported pediatric cancer clinical trial groups, of Re6 search Fellowships in Pediatric Cancer to support 

7 adequate numbers of pediatric focused clinical and 

8 translational investigators thereby facilitating con9 tinuous momentum of research excellence. 

10 ‘‘(b) NATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER REGISTRY.— 

11 The Director of NIH shall award a grant for the operation 

12 of a population-based national childhood cancer database, 

13 the Childhood Cancer Research Network (CCRN), of the 

14 Children’s Oncology Group, in cooperation with the Na15 tional Cancer Institute. 

16 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC AWARENESS OF PEDIATRIC CANCERS

17 AND AVAILABLE TREATMENTS AND RESEARCH.—The 

18 Secretary shall award a grants to recognized childhood 

19 cancer professional and advocacy organizations for the ex20 pansion and widespread implementation of activities to 

21 raise public awareness of currently available information, 

22 treatment, and research with the intent to ensure access 

23 to best available therapies for pediatric cancers. 

24 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

25 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section, 


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1 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011. 

2 Funds appropriated under this section shall remain avail3 able until expended.’’. 

Æ 


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