The Childhood Cancer STAR Act

About one in every three-hundred kids will be diagnosed with cancer before their 20th birthday. If that seems like a lot of children, that’s because it is. Just to make matters worse, the most common forms of childhood cancer are brain tumors and leukemia — neither of which are the sort of cancer you can treat with a quick trip to the dermatologist. Pediatric cancer is a nightmare and it is the second leading cause of death for American children.

S. 292 — The Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research Act is expected to go before the House this week. The bill expands funding for pediatric cancer research, broadens the National Cancer Center’s mandate to combat childhood cancer, and seeks to improve the speed with which new treatments for pediatric cancers are developed and adopted.

This bill could save a lot of lives. It is also one of those rare bills with true bipartisan support. S. 292 has 55 co-sponsors in the Senate ranging from Bernie Sanders to Orrin Hatch. It passed the Senate with unanimous consent.

While S. 292 won’t cure cancer in children, it is a step in the right direction and a rare moment of bi-partisan cooperation for people who need it most.

Tell Congress What You Think

The National Cancer Institute has been on the forefront of pediatric oncology research for decades but very little cancer research directly targets cancer in children. You can tell your Members of Congress your opinions about this or any other issue by texting RESISTto 50409. Or, if SMS isn’t your style, you can contact your government by talking to Resistbot on Facebook Messenger, Telegram, or Twitter.