United States HR 5939: Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Research and Education Act of 2019

Bill Text

I
116TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. 5939
To provide for research and education with respect to triple-negative breast
cancer, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FEBRUARY 21, 2020
Ms. JACKSON LEE introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To provide for research and education with respect to triple-
negative breast cancer, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Triple-Negative Breast 4
Cancer Research and Education Act of 2019’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds as follows: 7
(1) Breast cancer accounts for 1 in 4 cancer di-8
agnoses among women in this country. 9
VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:11 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5939.IH H5939pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS

2
•HR 5939 IH
(2) The survival rate for breast cancer has in-1
creased to 90 percent for White women and 78 per-2
cent for African-American women. 3
(3) African-American women are more likely to 4
be diagnosed with larger tumors and more advanced 5
stages of breast cancer despite a lower incidence 6
rate. 7
(4) Early detection for breast cancer increases 8
survival rates for breast cancer, as evidenced by a 5- 9
year relative survival rate of 98 percent for breast 10
cancers that are discovered before the cancer 11
spreads beyond the breast, compared to 23 percent 12
for stage IV breast cancers. 13
(5) Triple-negative breast cancer is a term used 14
to describe breast cancers whose cells do not have 15
estrogen receptors and progesterone receptors, and 16
do not have an excess of the HER2 protein on their 17
sources. 18
(6) It is estimated that between 10 and 20 per-19
cent of female breast cancer patients are diagnosed 20
with triple-negative breast cancer, and studies indi-21
cate the prevalence of triple-negative breast cancer is 22
much higher. 23
VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:11 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5939.IH H5939pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS

3
•HR 5939 IH
(7) Triple-negative breast cancer most com-1
monly affects African-American women, followed by 2
Hispanic women. 3
(8) Triple-negative breast cancer is a very ag-4
gressive form of cancer which affects women under 5
the age of 50 across all racial and socioeconomic 6
backgrounds. 7
(9) African-American women are 3 times more 8
likely to develop triple-negative breast cancer than 9
White women. 10
(10) Triple-negative breast cancer tends to 11
grow and spread more quickly than most other types 12
of breast cancer. 13
(11) Like other forms of breast cancer, triple- 14
negative breast cancer is treated with surgery, radi-15
ation therapy, or chemotherapy. 16
(12) Early-stage detection of triple-negative 17
breast cancer is the key to survival because the 18
tumor cells lack certain receptors, and neither hor-19
mone therapy nor drugs that target these receptors 20
are effective against these cancers; therefore, early 21
detection and education is vital. 22
(13) Current research and available data do not 23
provide adequate information on— 24
VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:11 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5939.IH H5939pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS

4
•HR 5939 IH
(A) the rates of prevalence and incidence 1
of triple-negative breast cancer in African- 2
American, Hispanic, and other minority women; 3
(B) the costs associated with treating tri-4
ple-negative breast cancer; and 5
(C) the methods by which triple-negative 6
breast cancer may be prevented or cured in 7
these women. 8
SEC. 3. RESEARCH WITH RESPECT TO TRIPLE-NEGATIVE 9
BREAST CANCER. 10
(a) RESEARCH.—The Director of the National Insti-11
tutes of Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Direc-12
tor of NIH’’) shall expand, intensify, and coordinate pro-13
grams for the conduct and support of research with re-14
spect to triple-negative breast cancer. 15
(b) ADMINISTRATION.—The Director of NIH shall 16
carry out this section through the appropriate institutes, 17
offices, and centers of the National Institutes of Health, 18
including the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute 19
of Child Health and Human Development, the National 20
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Office of 21
Research on Women’s Health, and the National Institute 22
on Minority Health and Health Disparities. 23
(c) COORDINATION OF ACTIVITIES.—The Director of 24
the Office of Research on Women’s Health shall coordi-25
VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:11 Feb 24, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5939.IH H5939pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS

5
•HR 5939 IH
nate activities under this section among the institutes, of-1
fices, and centers of the National Institutes of Health. 2
(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 3
purpose of carrying out this section