If you read my previous post ,you will see Senator McCain’s plan to eliminate the Prostate Cancer Research Program within the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP).

The loss of this program could shorten many of our lives and add significantly to our pain and suffering.    Now is the time to work with the rest of the advocacy community to counter this misguided initiative.

A coalition of advocates and advocacy groups is already working together because we are all concerned about funding the CDMRP over the next 5 years or so.  On Monday, this coalition agreed that we can no longer lay low.

Malecare joins with that coalition to ask all its American readers to call and send letters to Congress in support of the CDMRP.  If you have already done so — thank you!

If you haven’t, it is now really easy to send such letters or e-mails to your house representative and your two senators using the link to contacting your Congress Representative on the Advanced Prostate Cancer Blog or by clicking this link.   You can customize the letters there to make your own specific plea for why the Prostate Cancer Research Program and CDMRP need to be funded or you can use this as a basis for your email:

The Prostate Cancer Research Program, a program of the CDMRP, is responsible for accelerating the clinical trials process for 8 drugs currently in Phase III trials. One drug, Abiraterone will likely receive FDA approval later this year instead of in 2 years. The PCRP funded much of the preclinical research for what is now Velcade, a drug approved for the treatment of multiple myloma, and Denosumab which received FDA approval for prostate cancer patients in November 2010.

Some members of Congress are arguing that medical research has no place at the Department of Defense, but I disagree. The PCRP and CDMRP are programs of national significance that are addressing the threats to our warfighters. Prostate Cancer rates among active-duty services members are double that of civilians. Researchers suggest that this is due in part to exposure to depleted uranium. Studies over the past few years have also proven a positive link between prostate cancer and Agent Orange. Additionally, the research funded by the CDMRP is high-risk, high-reward research projects that are not funded by NIH or private funders.

The U.S. military stands between us and dangers that threaten the American way of life every day. But it’s not just the bombs and bullets that kill them – chemical warfare is a threat that can kill just as effectively and often with visible wounds to treat. We owe our soldiers more than state of the art equipment to fight on the battlefield – we owe them a state of the art arsenal to fight their war on cancer – the war they are exposed to in defense of our country.

We need to send thousands of letters and e-mails to Congress over the next couple of weeks so don’t hold back. Tell your representatives that this initiative is not to be cut. This program has been at the heart of many of the major advances we have recently seen!

Please, please do this.  Contact your members in congress, this means both of your senators and your individual house representative.  By the way, also send an email to Senator McCain.