II 

Calendar No. 535 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 911 

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 19, 2007 

Mr. REED (for himself, Mr. COLEMAN, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. CHAMBLISS, Mr. 

LUGAR, Mr. ISAKSON, Mr. BUNNING, Mr. GRAHAM, Ms. STABENOW, Mr. 

WHITEHOUSE, Mr. LAUTENBERG, Mr. KERRY, Mr. BROWN, Mr. CARPER, 

Mr. JOHNSON, Mr. WYDEN, Mr. MCCONNELL, Mr. BAYH, Mr. 

LIEBERMAN, Mrs. FEINSTEIN, Mr. COCHRAN, Mr. CORNYN, Mrs. BOXER, 

Mrs. CLINTON, Mr. CARDIN, Mr. SANDERS, Mr. AKAKA, Mr. BINGAMAN, 

Mr. SCHUMER, Mr. INOUYE, Mr. MENENDEZ, Mr. DOMENICI, Mr. BURR, 

Mr. LEAHY, Mr. CASEY, Ms. KLOBUCHAR, Mr. PRYOR, Ms. MIKULSKI, 

Mr. KENNEDY, Ms. LANDRIEU, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. REID, Mr. DODD, Mrs. 

LINCOLN, and Mrs. MURRAY) introduced the following bill; which was 

read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions 

DECEMBER 12, 2007 

Reported by Mr. KENNEDY, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

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 treatVerDate Aug 31 2005 05:20 Dec 13, 2007 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6652 E:\BILLS\S911.RS S911

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ments 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, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

5 Cancer Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) Cancer kills more children than any other 

9 disease. 

10 (2) Each year cancer kills more children be11 tween 1 and 20 years of age than asthma, diabetes, 

12 cystic fibrosis, and AIDS, combined. 

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

14 diagnosed with cancer. 

15 (4) Each year about 2,300 children and teen16 agers die from cancer. 

17 (5) One in every 330 Americans develops cancer 

18 before age 20. 

19 (6) Some forms of childhood cancer have proven 

20 to be so resistant that even in spite of the great re21 search strides made, most of those children die. Up 


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1 to 75 percent of the children with cancer can now 

2 be cured. 

3 (7) The causes of most childhood cancers are 

4 not yet known. 

5 (8) Childhood cancers are mostly those of the 

6 white blood cells (leukemias), brain, bone, the lym7 phatic system, and tumors of the muscles, kidneys, 

8 and nervous system. Each of these behaves dif9 ferently, but all are characterized by an uncontrolled 

10 proliferation of abnormal cells. 

11 (9) Eighty percent of the children who are diag12 nosed with cancer have disease which has already 

13 spread to distant sites in the body. 

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

15 pediatric cancer are treated at one of the more than 

16 200 Children’s Oncology Group member institutions 

17 throughout the United States. 

18 SEC. 3. PURPOSES. 

19 It is the purpose of this Act to authorize appropria20 tions to— 

21 (1) encourage and expand the support for bio22 medical research programs of the existing National 

23 Cancer Institute-designated multicenter national in24 frastructure for pediatric cancer research; 


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1 (2) establish a population-based national child2 hood cancer database (the Children’s Cancer Re3 search Network) to evaluate incidence trends of 

4 childhood cancers and to enable the investigations of 

5 genetic epidemiology in order to identify causes to 

6 aid in development of prevention strategies; 

7 (3) provide informational services to patients 

8 and families affected by childhood cancer; 

9 (4) support the development, construction, and 

10 operation of a comprehensive online public informa11 tion system on childhood cancers and services avail12 able to families; and 

13 (5) establish a fellowship program in pediatric 

14 cancer research to foster clinical and translational 

15 research career development in pediatric oncologists 

16 in the early stages of their career. 

17 SEC. 4. PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH AND AWARENESS. 

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

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

20 at the end the following: 

21 ‘‘SEC. 417E. PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH AND AWARE22 NESS. 

23 ‘‘(a) PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH.— 

24 ‘‘(1) SPECIAL PROGRAMS OF RESEARCH EXCEL25 LENCE IN PEDIATRIC CANCERS.—The Director of 


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1 NIH, acting through the National Cancer Institute, 

2 shall establish special programs of research excel3 lence in the area of pediatric cancers. Such pro4 grams shall demonstrate a balanced approach to re5 search cause, prognosis, prevention, diagnosis, and 

6 treatment of pediatric cancers that foster translation 

7 of basic research findings into innovative interven8 tions applied to patients. 

9 ‘‘(2) FELLOWSHIP OF EXCELLENCE IN PEDI10 ATRIC CANCER RESEARCH.—The Secretary shall de11 velop a grant mechanism for the establishment, in 

12 cooperation with the National Cancer Institute-sup13 ported pediatric cancer clinical trial groups, of Re14 search Fellowships in Pediatric Cancer to support 

15 adequate numbers of pediatric focused clinical and 

16 translational investigators thereby facilitating con17 tinuous momentum of research excellence. 

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

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

20 of a population-based national childhood cancer database, 

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

22 Children’s Oncology Group, in cooperation with the Na23 tional Cancer Institute. 

24 ‘‘(c) PUBLIC AWARENESS OF PEDIATRIC CANCERS

25 AND AVAILABLE TREATMENTS AND RESEARCH.—The 


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1 Secretary shall award grants to recognized childhood can2 cer professional and advocacy organizations for the expan3 sion and widespread implementation of activities to raise 

4 public awareness of currently available information, treat5 ment, and research with the intent to ensure access to best 

6 available therapies for pediatric cancers. 

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

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

9 $30,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012. 

10 Funds appropriated under this section shall remain avail11 able until expended.’’. 

12 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

13 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Conquer Childhood Can14 cer Act of 2007’’. 

15 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

16 Congress makes the following findings: 

17 (1) Cancer kills more children than any other 

18 disease. 

19 (2) Each year cancer kills more children between 

20 1 and 20 years of age than asthma, diabetes, cystic 

21 fibrosis, and AIDS, combined. 

22 (3) Every year, over 12,500 young people are di23 agnosed with cancer. 

24 (4) Each year about 2,300 children and teen25 agers die from cancer. 


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1 (5) One in every 330 Americans develops cancer 

2 before age 20. 

3 (6) Some forms of childhood cancer have proven 

4 to be so resistant that even in spite of the great re5 search strides made, most of those children die. Up to 

6 75 percent of the children with cancer can now be 

7 cured. 

8 (7) The causes of most childhood cancers are not 

9 yet known. 

10 (8) Childhood cancers are mostly those of the 

11 white blood cells (leukemias), brain, bone, the lym12 phatic system, and tumors of the muscles, kidneys, 

13 and nervous system. Each of these behaves differently, 

14 but all are characterized by an uncontrolled prolifera15 tion of abnormal cells. 

16 (9) Eighty percent of the children who are diag17 nosed with cancer have disease which has already 

18 spread to distant sites in the body. 

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

20 pediatric cancer are treated at 1 of the more than 200 

21 Children’s Oncology Group member institutions 

22 throughout the United States. 


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1 SEC. 3. PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH AND AWARENESS; 

2 NATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER REGISTRY. 

3 (a) PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH AND AWARE4 NESS.—Subpart 1 of part C of title IV of the Public Health 

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

6 at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 417E. PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH AND AWARE8 NESS. 

9 ‘‘(a) PEDIATRIC CANCER RESEARCH.— 

10 ‘‘(1) PROGRAMS OF RESEARCH EXCELLENCE IN

11 PEDIATRIC CANCER.—The Secretary, acting through 

12 the Director of NIH, in collaboration with other Fed13 eral agencies with interest in prevention and treat14 ment of pediatric cancer, shall enhance, expand, and 

15 intensify pediatric cancer research, including thera16 peutically applicable research to generate effective 

17 treatments, pediatric preclinical testing, and pedi18 atric clinical trials through National Cancer Insti19 tute-supported pediatric cancer clinical trial groups 

20 and their member institutions. For purposes of this 

21 section, the term ‘pediatric cancer research’ means re22 search on the causes, prevention, diagnosis, recogni23 tion, treatment, and long-term effects of pediatric 

24 cancer. 

25 ‘‘(2) FELLOWSHIP OF EXCELLENCE IN PEDIATRIC

26 CANCER RESEARCH.—The Secretary, acting through 


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1 the Director of NIH, shall award grants to enhance 

2 and expand cancer research fellowships to train and 

3 develop clinical investigators focused on pediatric 

4 cancer research. 

5 ‘‘(3) PEER REVIEW REQUIREMENTS.—All grants 

6 awarded under this subsection shall be awarded in ac7 cordance with section 492. 

8 ‘‘(b) PUBLIC AWARENESS OF PEDIATRIC CANCERS AND

9 AVAILABLE TREATMENTS AND RESEARCH.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award 

11 grants to childhood cancer professional and direct 

12 service organizations for the expansion and wide13 spread implementation of— 

14 ‘‘(A) activities that provide available infor15 mation on treatment protocols to ensure early 

16 access to the best available therapies and clinical 

17 trials for pediatric cancers; 

18 ‘‘(B) activities that provide available infor19 mation on the late effects of pediatric cancer 

20 treatment to ensure access to necessary long-term 

21 medical and psychological care; and 

22 ‘‘(C) direct resource services such as edu23 cational outreach for parents, peer-to-peer and 

24 parent-to-parent support networks, information 

25 on school re-entry and postsecondary education, 


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1 and resource directories or referral services for fi2 nancial assistance, psychological counseling, and 

3 other support services. 

4 ‘‘(2) PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT, TRANS5 PARENCY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY.—For each grant 

6 awarded under this subsection, the Secretary shall de7 velop and implement metrics-based performance 

8 measures to assess the effectiveness of activities funded 

9 under such grant. 

10 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For pur11 poses of carrying out this section and section 399E–1, there 

12 are authorized to be appropriated $30,000,000 for each of 

13 fiscal years 2008 through 2012. Such authorization of ap14 propriations is in addition to the authorization of appro15 priations established in section 402A with respect to such 

16 purpose. Funds appropriated under this subsection shall re17 main available until expended.’’. 

18 (b) NATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER REGISTRY.—Part 

19 M of title III of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 

20 280e et seq.) is amended— 

21 (1) by inserting after section 399E the following: 

22 ‘‘SEC. 399E–1. NATIONAL CHILDHOOD CANCER REGISTRY. 

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 

24 Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 

25 shall award a grant to enhance and expand infrastructure 


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1 to track the epidemiology of pediatric cancer into a com2 prehensive nationwide registry of actual occurrences of pe3 diatric cancer. Such registry shall be updated to include 

4 an actual occurrence within weeks of the date of such occur5 rence. 

6 ‘‘(b) INFORMED CONSENT AND PRIVACY REQUIRE7 MENTS AND COORDINATION WITH EXISTING PROGRAMS.— 

8 The registry established pursuant to subsection (a) shall be 

9 subject to section 552a of title 5, United States Code, the 

10 regulations promulgated under section 264(c) of the Health 

11 Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, ap12 plicable Federal and State informed consent regulations, 

13 any other Federal laws relating to the privacy of patient 

14 information, and section 399B(d)(4) of this Act.’’; and 

15 (2) in section 399F(a), by inserting ‘‘(other than 

16 section 399E–1)’’ after ‘‘this part’’. 


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Calendar No. 535 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 911 

A BILL 

To amend the Public Health Service Act to advance 

promote public awareness of pediatric cancers. based national childhood cancer database, and garding pediatric cancers, establish a populationto the current treatments and information recancers, ensure patients and families have access medical research and treatments into pediatric 

DECEMBER 12, 2007 

Reported with an amendment 


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