Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 134

Introduced by Senator Beall

July 2, 2014

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 134—Relative to Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SCR 134, as introduced, Beall. Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

This measure would proclaim November 2014 as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and urge all Californians to know, fight, and end pancreatic cancer.

Fiscal committee: no.

WHEREAS, In 2014, an estimated 46,420 people will be
diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 39,590 people will die from
the disease in the United States, and the incidence and death rates
for pancreatic cancer are increasing; and

WHEREAS, Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers,
as it is anticipated to move from the fourth to the second leading
cause of cancer death in the United States by 2020; and

WHEREAS, Symptoms of pancreatic cancer usually first present
themselves in its late stage; and

WHEREAS, Seventy-three percent of pancreatic cancer patients
die within the first year of their diagnosis, while 94 percent of
pancreatic cancer patients die within the first five years, rendering
the disease the only major cancer with a five-year relative survival
rate in the single digits at just 6 percent; and

WHEREAS, Approximately 3,960 deaths from pancreatic cancer
will occur in California in 2014; and

WHEREAS, The federal government invests significantly less
money in pancreatic cancer research than it does in research of
any other deadly cancer, constituting only approximately 2 percent
of the National Cancer Institute’s budget, 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; and

WHEREAS, 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;
now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Legislature hereby proclaims
November 2014 as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and urges
all Californians to know, fight, and 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.