Expressing support for the designation of the 17th day in May as "DIPG Awareness Day" to raise awareness and encourage research into cures for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and pediatric cancers in general.

IV 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. RES. 114 Expressing support for the designation of the 17th day in May as ‘‘DIPG Awareness Day’’ to raise awareness and encourage research into cures for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and pediatric cancers in general. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES FEBRUARY 8, 2019 Ms. SPEIER (for herself, Mr. JOYCE of Ohio, Mrs. DINGELL, Mr. STIVERS, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. VELA, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. SMITH of New Jersey, Ms. GABBARD, Mr. COHEN, Mr. MCCAUL, Mr. LANGEVIN, Ms. BROWNLEY of California, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. KELLY of Pennsyl- vania, Mr. SOTO, and Mr. CA´RDENAS) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce RESOLUTION Expressing support for the designation of the 17th day in May as ‘‘DIPG Awareness Day’’ to raise awareness and encourage research into cures for diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and pediatric cancers in general. Whereas diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) affects 200 to 400 children in the United States each year with cer- tain regularity; Whereas brain tumors are the leading cause of cancer-related death in children; Whereas DIPG is the second most common malignant brain tumor of childhood; VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR114.IH HR114 dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 2 •HRES 114 IH Whereas DIPG is the leading cause of childhood death due to brain tumors; Whereas the median survival time is only 9 months postdiagnosis with treatment; Whereas 5-year survival is less than 1 percent; Whereas given the age at diagnosis and the average life ex- pectancy, the number of life years lost annually because of DIPG is approximately 24,000 years of person life lost (calculated as the number of children diagnosed by aver- age of male and female life expectancy from that median age, 300 × 80 = 24,000 years of person life lost annu- ally); Whereas prognosis has not improved for children with DIPG in over 40 years; and Whereas Federal funding for research for pediatric cancer should be increased to address the level of unmet medical need for this vulnerable population: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘DIPG Aware- 2 ness Day’’; 3 (2) encourages all people of the United States 4 to become more informed about diffuse intrinsic 5 pontine glioma (DIPG) pediatric brain cancer, and 6 the current challenges to the medical research sys- 7 tem in designating sufficient research funding for 8 pediatric cancers; 9 (3) supports expanded research to better under- 10 stand DIPG, develop effective treatments, and pro- 11 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR114.IH HR114 dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 3 •HRES 114 IH vide comprehensive care for children with DIPG and 1 their families; and 2 (4) encourages public and private sources of re- 3 search funding to elevate their consideration of the 4 mortality rate of a type of cancer, as well as the life- 5 years lost, as significant factors to be considered 6 during the grant application process. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:34 Feb 08, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\HR114.IH HR114 dlhill on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS