The OVAC Coalition Achieves Big Victories on Two Fronts
(June 2008) The House of Representatives passed the FY 2008 supplemental appropriations bill late last night. Included as part of this funding package is $150 million for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), of which the National Cancer Institute (NCI) should receive more than $20 million. The supplemental appropriations bill did not provide any funding for the NIH when the House initially passed it in early May. Cancer champions in the Senate, led by Senators Harkin and Specter, added $400 million for the NIH. However, retaining the funds was seen as an uphill battle when the bill went back to the House. OVAC members rose to the challenge and included this in their discussions last week. The message on supplemental funding was included front and center in the materials that were distributed to Congressional offices. As a result of the hard work of many, Congress is taking a bold step forward, signaling its strong support for biomedical and cancer research, by supporting NIH and NCI in the FY 2008 supplemental appropriations bill. In another important victory, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved its FY 2009 bill, sending it to the full committee. Chairman Obey and the subcommittee members increased NIH's appropriation by $1.2 billion over the FY 2008 level, including an increase of nearly $170 million for NCI. This increase would help get NIH and NCI back on track after year of stagnant funding and inflation have hindered research progress. In a bill that funds many critical needs, this increase again demonstrates the level of support Congress has for cancer research and all NIH programs. OVAC members deserve to be congratulated on the successful meetings that many advocates had with members of the appropriations committee and the impact that had on this bill.
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Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3)
(May 2008) Developed by The American Cancer Society, the purpose of CPS-3 is to better understand the lifestyle, behavioral, environmental and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer and to ultimately eliminate cancer as a major health problem for this and future generations. The ultimate goal is to enroll 500,000 adults from various racial/ethnic backgrounds from across the U.S. Men and women between the ages of 30 and 65 years who have no personal history of cancer are invited to join. They are actively reaching out to the LGBT community. Participants will be followed for at least 20 years. You will be contacted every two years with mailed questionnaires to answer. While you may be in the study for many years, we expect the amount of time it will take you to answer a questionnaire to be minimal (about 45 minutes for the follow-ups). For more information, email cps3@cancer.org or go to http://www.cancer.org/docroot/RES/RES_6_6.asp? or call toll-free 888-604-5888.

Cancer disparities in indigenous Polynesian populations: Maori, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific people
(May 2008) Polynesia consists of several islands that are scattered across a vast triangle in the Pacific, and include New Zealand, Hawaii, and the Pacific islands. There are reported differences in the types of cancer and epidemiologies seen among communities in these islands, the reasons for which are diverse and complex. In this Review, we describe patterns of cancer incidence, mortality, and survival in indigenous populations compared with populations of European origin in Polynesia, and highlight the limited available data for Pacific populations. Additionally, we document the current knowledge of the underlying biology of cancers in these populations, and report risk factors that differ between ethnicities, including smoking, viral infections, and obesity. Disparities in measures of health are highlighted, as are evident differences in knowledge of tumour biology and cancer management between majority and minority populations.
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