Taylor Marsh – TaylorMarsh.com – News, Opinion and Weblog on Progressive Politics

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Ellen and Hillary discuss her breast care plan. It’s an all out effort to find a cure.

Hillary’s Plan * Set a big goal of finding a cure in our lifetime. Studies show that most young women don’t believe it will be possible to find a cure in their lifetime. Hillary wants to shatter that myth. With the significant investments she is planning to make in research, we should be able to make much more dramatic progress in identifying the causes, developing and identifying the most effective treatments, and ultimately, finding a cure. By setting a big goal, Hillary will provide national leadership on breast cancer, help leverage additional action across the country, and make clear that fighting this disease will be a top priority when she is President. * Invest in the Research. Finding a cure will require ramping up our commitment to research. That is why as President, Hillary will: o Double the NIH and National Cancer Institute budgets, Expand NCI Cancer Centers, and Establish a Best Practices Institute. We have made great strides in the fight against breast cancer in recent years. For example, we’ve learned that breast cancer isn’t just one disease, and as treatments are improving breast cancer survivors are living longer. Still, we have a long way to go. We still don’t know what causes breast cancer or the best ways to treat it. As President, Hillary will double the budgets of the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), and ensure that every American lives within the service area of a NCI Cancer Center. She will also establish a new Best Practices Institute – which would work as a partnership between the existing Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the private sector – to fund medical research and disseminate that information to Americans and health care professionals to increase quality and reduce costs. This institute will investigate breast cancer treatments and spread information across the country on the most effective treatments to reduce disparities. Through all of these investments, we will be able to significantly expand the number of clinical trails that are ongoing, which will enable us to accelerate the pace of research. In addition, Hillary will ask the NIH and the NCI to report on their progress to the President each year. o Double the Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. The Department of Defense Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program provides innovative, high-impact, cutting-edge research aimed at eradicating breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer and other diseases. Since this program was enacted, over $2 billion in breast cancer research funding has awarded and 4,000 breast cancer research grants have been granted. o Enact the Breast Cancer Environmental Research Act and Expand Environmental Research. As President, Hillary will enact the Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act, legislation that is essential to building the NIH-funded research centers that will investigate the links between environmental pollutants and breast cancer. Every year we learn more about the connections between the environment and disease, and by pushing forward on this front, this legislation will ultimately allow us to predict much earlier who will acquire breast cancer and to eliminate the pollutants that increase the risk for women who are exposed. This legislation will also allow us to develop and implement a much-needed comprehensive strategy for breast cancer research. o Research the Genetic and Hereditary Causes of Breast Cancer. We now have the scientific capability to better understand genetically caused breast cancer through advances in mapping of the human DNA. This is the first generation that can choose to utilize this advance in technology to cure cancer. When changes called “mutations” occur in certain genes, certain cells can grow out of control and cause cancer. Women who carry the genetic markers BRCA1 and BRCA2 are at a greater risk for developing breast cancer. Hillary will provide targeted funding to the National Cancer Institute for research in this area that will help to develop specialized treatment and screenings for women who are known to carry these genetic markers and have a family history of breast cancer. o Continue the Breast Cancer Research Stamp. The breast cancer research stamp costs $.55 and by law, 70 percent of the net amount raised from the stamp goes to the National Institutes of Health, and 30 percent goes to the Medical Research Program at the Department of Defense for breast cancer research grants. Since 1998, it has provided $55.5 million for breast cancer research. The stamp has to be reauthorized every two years. Hillary is committed to maintaining the stamp throughout her administration. read more…

Evening open thread. Chat away.