05/07/2002 03:00 PM House HES

SCR 33 - OVARIAN CANCER AWARENESS MONTH                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR DYSON  announced that the  next order of business  would be                                                               
SENATE CONCURRENT  RESOLUTION NO. 33, Relating  to Ovarian Cancer                                                               
Awareness Month.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
Number 1234                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   LESIL   MCGUIRE,   Alaska   State   Legislature,                                                               
presented  SCR  33  on  behalf of  the  Senate  Rules  Committee,                                                               
sponsor.   She  told the  committee  that SCR  33 will  designate                                                               
September  as Ovarian  Cancer  Awareness Month  in  the state  of                                                               
Alaska.   She said she thinks  this is one of  the more important                                                               
concurrent  resolutions  that  the  legislature could  do.    The                                                               
reason  why is  ovarian cancer  is  one of  those silent,  deadly                                                               
killers that many  women don't even know about.   She shared that                                                               
a  friend's mother  died from  ovarian cancer,  and the  sad part                                                               
about  it  is  it  could  have been  detected  earlier,  and  her                                                               
survival rate would have been 93 percent.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MCGUIRE  noted that  one  of  the goals  of  this                                                               
resolution  is to  make members  of the  community aware.   Early                                                               
detection is  the key to  survival.  She shared  some statistics.                                                               
In the United States, more women  die of ovarian cancer each year                                                               
than of cervical and endometrial  cancers combined.  The American                                                               
Cancer  Society reports  that ovarian  cancer  accounts for  four                                                               
percent of all cancers among women  and ranks fifth as a cause of                                                               
death.   The American Cancer Society  predicts that approximately                                                               
23,000 new cases of ovarian  cancer will be diagnosed yearly with                                                               
13,000 deaths annually.   Early detection is key  to survival; if                                                               
the cancer  is diagnosed while  confined to the ovary,  the five-                                                               
year survival rate reaches 93  percent on average.  The incidence                                                               
of advanced stage  ovarian cancer is increasing due  to the vague                                                               
symptoms and the lack of a screening test for early detection.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   MCGUIRE   said   often  the   symptoms   are   a                                                               
stomachache, fatigue, things associated  with stress, or the flu,                                                               
so a lot of  women don't pick up on it.   She suggested that this                                                               
is just a step this legislature can take to send that message.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
Number 1379                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
KIM  SEXTON,  Co-President,  National  Ovarian  Cancer  Coalition                                                               
(NOCC)  - Alaska  Division, testified  via  teleconference.   She                                                               
told the committee that she  was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in                                                               
2000.   She noted she  had been  tested for diabetes  and thyroid                                                               
problems and when  that came back fine, the doctor  told her that                                                               
her symptoms  were probably  just stress.   Two months  later she                                                               
was diagnosed with  ovarian cancer.  She  hadn't known beforehand                                                               
that she  had a family history  of it, otherwise, she  would have                                                               
been more  aware, but that  only accounts  for 10 percent  of the                                                               
cases.                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS. SEXTON  commented that she  wants the  public to be  aware of                                                               
the symptoms  and what they can  do, and not let  the health care                                                               
providers diagnose  irritable bowel syndrome or  stress or things                                                               
like that.                                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
Number 1436                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON referred to  the Prostrate Specific Antigen                                                               
(PSA) test for men and asked  Ms. Sexton if there is any research                                                               
that  is getting  close  to being  able to  detect  some kind  of                                                               
cancers like that in women.                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. SEXTON replied that there are  some studies being done with a                                                               
test similar  to the prostate  test.  It  is a simple  blood test                                                               
and  is proving  to be  about 95  percent accurate  in diagnosing                                                               
ovarian  cancer.   It is  still in  clinical trials  and will  be                                                               
several years  before it will  be available  to the public.   Who                                                               
will get it and  how often still will need to  be decided.  Right                                                               
now all  that's available is  the routine  pelvic exam.   If that                                                               
shows  anything, a  trans-vaginal ultrasound  is done.   If  that                                                               
shows  anything, a  CA-125 blood  test can  be done,  which is  a                                                               
tumor marker test, but it's only about 50 percent accurate.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
Number 1530                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE COGHILL  asked if  this resolution  would coincide                                                               
with work that's being done on breast cancer.                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
MS. SEXTON replied  that they're hoping it will  because there is                                                               
a link between ovarian cancer and  breast cancer.  Women who have                                                               
had breast cancer  are at increased risk for  ovarian cancer, and                                                               
women who  have had ovarian cancer  are at an increased  risk for                                                               
breast cancer.                                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  COGHILL  said  that   he  was  asking  about  the                                                               
information  highway that  breast cancer  has already  forged out                                                               
and wondered  if this  could be  tied with  any of  the awareness                                                               
projects that they have put together.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
MS. SEXTON  answered that they  try to  let people know  there is                                                               
that  link, but  right now  there are  no organizations  that are                                                               
working together  on this.  It  doesn't look like there  is going                                                               
to be that  cooperation.  In response  to Representative Coghill,                                                               
she indicated that breast cancer awareness month is October.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
Number 1606                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE WILSON  moved to  report SCR  33 out  of committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  [zero]                                                               
fiscal notes.  There being no  objection, SCR 33 was reported out                                                               
of  the  House Health,  Education  and  Social Services  Standing                                                               
Committee.