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.