Amended in Assembly April 23, 2015

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 26

Introduced by Senator Beall

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(Coauthors: Assembly Members Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Atkins, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom, Bonta, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Chang, Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Nazarian, Obernolte, O’Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Santiago, Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wilk, Williams, and Wood)

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March 5, 2015

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 26—Relative to Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 26, as amended, Beall. Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

This measure would recognize that pancreatic cancer statistics call for aggressive measures now to develop early detection and treatment tools before the incidence dramatically increases, and would proclaim November 2015 as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in California.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, In 2015, an estimated 48,960 people will be
diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 40,560 people will die from
the disease in the United States; and

WHEREAS, Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers,
is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States,
and is the only major cancer with a five-year relative survival rate
in the single digits at just 7 percent; and

WHEREAS, Symptoms of pancreatic cancer usually first present
themselves in its late stage, and 72 percent of pancreatic cancer
patients die within the first year of their diagnosis, while 93 percent
of pancreatic cancer patients die within the first five years; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 4,300 deaths from pancreatic cancer
will occur in California in 2015; and

WHEREAS, The incidence and death rate for pancreatic cancer
are increasing, pancreatic cancer is anticipated to move from the
fourth to the second leading cause of cancer death in the United
States by 2020, and the number of deaths from the disease will
increase 2.4 fold by 2030; and

WHEREAS, The federal government invests significantly less
money in pancreatic cancer research than it does in research of
any other leading deadly cancer, constituting only approximately
2 percent of the National Cancer Institute’s research funding, a
figure far too low given the severity of the disease, its mortality
rate, and how little is known about how to arrest it; and

WHEREAS, The Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act of 2012,
formerly the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act,
requires that the National Cancer Institute develop a scientific
framework for combating pancreatic cancer and other recalcitrant
cancers; and

WHEREAS, The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is a national
organization serving the pancreatic cancer community in California,
where it is headquartered, and nationwide through a comprehensive
approach, which includes public policy, research funding, patient
services, and public awareness and education related to developing
effective treatments and a cure for pancreatic cancer; and

WHEREAS, The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and its
affiliates in California support those patients and families currently
battling pancreatic cancer, as well as the friends and families of
those who have lost their lives to the disease, and are committed
to nothing less than a cure; and

WHEREAS, The good health and well-being of the residents
of California are enhanced as a direct result of increased awareness
about pancreatic cancer and research into early detection, causes,
and effective treatments; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby recognizes that
pancreatic cancer statistics call for aggressive measures now to
develop early detection and treatment tools before the incidence
dramatically increases, in light of the fact that National Cancer
Institute funding is falling dangerously behind; and be it further

Resolved, That the Legislature hereby proclaims November
2015 as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in California and
urges all California citizens to wage hope to end pancreatic cancer;
and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of
this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.