BILL NUMBER: SCR 66	ENROLLED
	BILL TEXT

	ADOPTED IN SENATE  MARCH 25, 2010
	ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY  MAY 6, 2010

INTRODUCED BY   Senator Steinberg
   (Coauthor: Senator Kehoe)
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bass and Saldana)

                        FEBRUARY 2, 2010

   Relative to Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SCR 66, Steinberg. Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month.
   This measure would designate March 2010 as Colorectal Cancer
Awareness Month.



   WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer is the third leading cause of cancer
deaths in both men and women in California, with 14,160 new cases and
5,080 deaths expected in 2010; and
   WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer is treatable, curable, and in many
cases, completely preventable; and
   WHEREAS, When colorectal cancers are detected at an early stage,
five-year survival is 90 percent; and
   WHEREAS, There were approximately 1 million colorectal cancer
survivors in the U.S. in 2002; and
   WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer is known as a silent killer because
symptoms only show up in the later stages of the disease; and
   WHEREAS, With proper screening, colorectal cancer can be prevented
or, if found early, treated and cured; and
   WHEREAS, In 2005, only 56 percent of the population in California
had received colorectal cancer screening according to the guidelines;
and
   WHEREAS, According to the Institute of Medicine, access to
appropriate use of colorectal cancer screening tests, such as
colonoscopy, sigmoidoscopy, and fecal occult blood test (FOBT), could
reduce death rates of colon cancer up to 80 percent; and
   WHEREAS, According to the American Cancer Society, in 2007, only
about 46 percent of colorectal cancers were diagnosed at an early,
more treatable and curable stage; and
   WHEREAS, The uninsured, underinsured, and underserved are least
likely to get screening and treatment for colorectal cancer, which
means that they are more likely to be diagnosed at a late stage when
chances of survival drop to 10 percent; and
   WHEREAS, Colorectal cancer screening is one of the most
cost-effective prevention measures in health care, more cost
effective than breast or prostate cancer screening; and
   WHEREAS, African Americans have the highest colorectal cancer
incidence and mortality rates of all racial groups in this country,
and early detection rates among African Americans in California are
low; and
   WHEREAS, Hispanics and Latinos in California have lower rates of
screening for colorectal cancer, and lower rates of early detection
of the disease; and
   WHEREAS, In California, colorectal cancer is the most common
cancer among Korean men, the second most common cancer among Korean
women, and the second most common cancer among Japanese men and
women, and only 40 percent of colorectal cancers in Asians and
Pacific Islanders are caught at an early stage; and
   WHEREAS, The California Colorectal Cancer Coalition (C4) is a
nonprofit organization established to increase colorectal cancer
screening rates in an effort to decrease mortality associated with
the disease, and implement strategies to reduce disparities in
colorectal cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment among
populations in California; and
   WHEREAS, C4 encourages Californians to discuss the colorectal
cancer screening test that is best for them with their doctors and
believes that the best test is the one you have done; now, therefore,
be it
   Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby designates March 2010
as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month; and be it further
   Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this
resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.