Welcome, Pancreatic Cancer Research Advocates!

A new session of Congress has begun, and the annual debate on how much federal funding should go to cancer research begins anew.

Over the next few weeks, we have a critical opportunity to influence this discussion. We need your voice to help convince Congress to dedicate more funding for pancreatic cancer research at the National Cancer Institute – the largest source of cancer funding in the country. We must send a simple, yet powerful message: Tell Congress it’s time to Know It. Fight It. End It.

TAKE TWO MINUTES AND SEND A MESSAGE TO CONGRESS
Please click on the “Send a Message to Congress” button above to send a pre-written message to your U.S. Senators and Representative. We encourage you to add your own personal story so your elected officials will understand the profoundly personal effect pancreatic cancer has had on people in their district.

MY PERSONAL STORY
Whether you are a caregiver, a researcher or a survivor like me, your voice is important. I am one of the lucky ones. Five years ago my pancreatic cancer was found early by a very skilled doctor. Today, so much more needs to be done in research to develop early detection tools, effective treatment options, and to eventually eradicate a disease where less than 25% of patients survive more than 12 months after diagnosis, and the five year survival rate of less than 5%. With such dire statistics, there are simply not enough survivors like me to spread the word. We need everyone to help us champion for those who cannot.

TELL EVERYONE TO KNOW IT. FIGHT IT. END IT.

We need as many people as possible to join us in this important and urgent effort. Please forward the link to your friends and family (www.pancan.org/challenge) and post a link on your Facebook or MySpace pages to help spread the word. And please, register with me now for Advocacy Day 2010 held this year on June 21st and 22nd in Washington, DC.

With all of us standing together, we can get the funding we need to fight it and end it. To learn more about the Congressional request for FY ’10-’11 research funding, click here.

Sincerely,


Ralph Cheney
Advocate, Volunteer and five-year survivor
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Volunteer
Monticello, New York 		 
Ralph Cheney
2009 Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day, Washington, DC
Advocate, Volunteer and five-year survivor



Questions? Contact Us.
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Phone: 202-742-6699
E-mail: advocacy@pancan.org


More on the FY ’10-’11 Research Funding Request to Congress
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, along with our allies in the One Voice Against Cancer Coalition, is requesting that Congress provide a 13.5 percent increase in funding over last year’s appropriations for the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Because of inflation, the NCI’s budget has decreased by approximately 14 percent since Fiscal Year 2003. We are therefore asking for this increase to help ensure that the NCI will have enough funding to not only meet their current research project obligations, but also to fund new research opportunities into diseases like pancreatic cancer.