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[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 395 Introduced in House (IH)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 395

Supporting efforts to raise awareness, improve education, and encourage 
                research of inflammatory breast cancer.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2009

Mrs. McCarthy of New York submitted the following resolution; which was 
            referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION

 
Supporting efforts to raise awareness, improve education, and encourage 
                research of inflammatory breast cancer.

Whereas inflammatory breast cancer is a rare but very aggressive type of breast 
        cancer in which the cancer cells block the lymph vessels in the skin of 
        the breast;
Whereas inflammatory breast cancer accounts for between 1 and 6 percent of all 
        breast cancer cases in the United States;
Whereas inflammatory breast cancer is more common than acute lymphoblastic 
        leukemia in children;
Whereas inflammatory breast cancer may have environmental causes;
Whereas inflammatory breast cancer is particularly difficult to detect because 
        the early signs of breast cancer, such as a breast lump or suspicious 
        area on a routine screening mammogram, are rarely present in 
        inflammatory breast cancer;
Whereas inflammatory breast cancer tends to affect women at a younger age than 
        most breast cancers;
Whereas black women are more likely to have inflammatory breast cancer than 
        white women;
Whereas inflammatory breast cancer is more likely to have metastasised at the 
        time of diagnosis than noninflammatory breast cancer cases;
Whereas the 5 year survival rate for patients with inflammatory breast cancer is 
        between 25 and 50 percent, which is significantly lower than the 
        survival rate for patients with noninflammatory breast cancer;
Whereas the incidence rate for inflammatory breast cancer is on the rise, and 
        the cause of this increase is unknown;
Whereas organizations such as the Inflammatory Breast Cancer Foundation are 
        working to increase awareness of the disease in the public and medical 
        communities;
Whereas the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas is among one of 
        the only facilities in the country to have a clinic specifically 
        dedicated to inflammatory breast cancer; and
Whereas many physicians remain unaware of inflammatory breast cancer and 
        diagnosis is frequently delayed due to a lack of knowledge in both the 
        lay and medical communities: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That it is the sense of the House of Representatives that 
the Federal Government has a responsibility to--
            (1) endeavor to raise awareness and improve education about 
        inflammatory breast cancer;
            (2) encourage the American Medical Association to take 
        steps to immediately increase awareness of inflammatory breast 
        cancer among physicians;
            (3) encourage research that will improve treatments for 
        inflammatory breast cancer; and
            (4) continue to consider ways to improve access to 
        information on inflammatory breast cancer for both doctors and 
        patients.
                                 <all>
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