Congress cuts critical funding for prostate cancer research

Congress is poised to ruin Father's Day for millions of men and their families by drastically cutting funding for prostate cancer research. Today, the House Appropriations Committee approved a bill that would provide $64 million in FY2012 for the Prostate Cancer Research Program as part of the Department of Defense's Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program. This is a 20 percent reduction from the $80 million provided yearly since 2006 to study the disease, develop new drugs and save lives.

"Prostate cancer affects one in six men and disproportionally affects our nation's veterans," said Skip Lockwood, CEO of ZERO — The Project to End Prostate Cancer. "This decision by Congress will punish veterans who have already sacrificed a great deal for their country."

Veterans who have been exposed to chemical agents such as Agent Orange in Vietnam, other unknown chemicals that have emerged since the Desert Storm operations in Iraq, and depleted uranium are twice as likely to develop prostate cancer as their civilian counterparts.

Department of Defense funding has lead to new prostate cancer drugs reaching Food and Drug Administration approval in 2010 and 2011. Amgen's Xgeva, which reduces bone breaks and other skeletal complications, and Johnson & Johnson's Zytiga, a second-line treatment for castration-resistant prostate cancer, were both developed with funding from the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. Without this research funding, prostate cancer drugs that are currently available and saving lives would still remain in clinical trials.

To continue this critical funding for prostate cancer research, write to your representatives and senators and tell them that prostate cancer research funding is a national priority. ZERO — The Project to End Prostate Cancer has developed a web-based form to make it easier to contact your elected officials.