On May 8, a panel of cancer survivors, advocates, and researchers testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions at a hearing on cancer. The topics discussed included prevention, access to health care, insurance coverage, and cancer research.

Looking Ahead: NCI Plan and Budget for FY 2009 NCI's State Cancer Legislative Database (SCLD) Web site has been updated. A fact sheet on tobacco products excise taxes and the winter 2008 issue of the SCLD Update have been added to the site. This special year-in-review issue of the SCLD Update includes a summary and matrix of all legislation enacted and resolutions adopted in 2007, as well as a table focusing on legislative activity related to state tobacco settlements. For more information about state cancer-related legislation or to learn about the SCLD program, go to http://www.scld-nci.net.

Panel members included Lance Armstrong, Elizabeth Edwards (cancer survivor and wife of former Senator John Edwards, D-NC), AOL founder Steve Case, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute President Dr. Edward Benz, Greg Simon (president of FasterCures), and Hala Moddelmog (president and CEO of the Susan G. Komen for the Cure).

The legislators and panelists called for greater emphasis on prevention and early detection and increased access to health care. Mr. Case stressed the need for greater innovation in cancer research and more interagency and public-private collaborations. He also suggested that a computer industry-like approach may reinvigorate current biomedical research strategies that have stalled. Ms. Moddelmog and several other panelists urged the committee to mandate health insurance coverage for clinical trials to increase participation.

Committee Chairman Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) announced his intention to introduce legislation, co-sponsored by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), encouraging a comprehensive approach to cancer research, rather than placing an emphasis on one or more types of cancer. Dr. Benz concurred, saying he favors studying molecular signatures and other biological identifiers of cancers rather than continuing to focus on cancers in specific organ sites.

An archived webcast of the hearing can be found at http://help.senate.gov/Hearings/2008_05_08/2008_05_08.html.