House Resolution 1300, supporting IBC

on June 24, 2008, congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D - NY), introduced House Resolution 1300, summarized as

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

in july, my aunt kim, sent a letter to Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, who represents Redwood City in the United States House of Representatives asking for her support of the resolution.

below is Congresswoman Eshoo's reply my aunt received this past tuesday:

August 19, 2008

Dear Ms. Abbott,

Thank you for writing to me about H. Res. 1300, a bill supporting efforts to raise awareness, improve education, and encourage research of inflammatory breast cancer (IBC). I'm proud to be a cosponsor of this bill.

As you know, IBC is one of the most dangerous forms of breast cancer for many reasons. First, IBC symptoms are atypical of the majority of breast cancers since breast lumps and other warning signs are absent in cases of IBC. This causes women to misinterpret IBC symptoms and frequently delay seeking medical assistance. Second, the women affected by IBC do not fit the traditional profile since IBC tends to affect women at a younger age. Finally, IBC awareness in the medical community is lacking so the cancer is often misdiagnosed which is especially dangerous since it is a very aggressive and inaccurate diagnosing can be especially deadly.

Increasing awareness of IBC in both the public and medical communities is essential to fighting this disease. The more informed women are of this disease, the better they are prepared to recognize it and get the help they need. Also, by increasing awareness in the medical community, doctors will be better equipped to diagnose IBC correctly. H. Res. 1300 will work to increase awareness of IBC, encourage the American Medical Association to increase awareness of inflammatory breast cancer among physicians, encourage research that will improve treatments for inflammatory breast cancer, and continue to consider ways to improve access to information on inflammatory breast cancer for both doctors and patients.

I read Trisha's blog and was touched by her story. Her strength and courage are highly admirable and I wish her my best in her continued fight against IBC.

H. Res. 1300 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which I'm a member of and rest assured, I will continue to do everything I can to see that this important bill becomes law.

If you have any other questions or comments, let me hear from you. I value what my constituents say to me because I need your thoughts and benefit from your ideas.

...

Sincerely,

Anna G. Eshoo
Member of Congress

the full text of House Resolution 1300 is below:



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; (Introduced in House)

HRES 1300 IH

110th CONGRESS

2d Session

H. RES. 1300

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

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

June 24, 2008

Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York (for herself and Mrs. EMERSON) 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.