The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) commends Congress for working in a bipartisan fashion to pass the childhood cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access & Research (STAR) Act of 2018. The STAR Act passed in the House of Representatives yesterday after having passed in the Senate on March 22.

The STAR Act, which had 55 co-sponsors in the Senate and 370 co-sponsors in the House, is the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever passed by Congress. It seeks to improve the lives of pediatric cancer patients and survivors through supporting pediatric cancer research, improving surveillance of childhood cancers, and enhancing resources for survivors.

“This important legislation supports the expanding number of scientific opportunities that exist today to advance pediatric cancer research and develop child-focused cancer treatments, while also helping childhood cancer survivors cope with the long-term impact of their previous treatments,” said AACR President, Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, deputy director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins. “For example, the entire field of pediatric cancer research is moving forward because we are currently seeing an ever-growing number of innovative clinical trials specially designed for childhood cancers. We are taking advantage of numerous cutting-edge technologies to get to the root cause of these cancers, and we are realizing the promise of immunotherapy and combination therapies for an expanding number of pediatric cancer indications.”

Among other provisions, the STAR Act:

•Authorizes the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to expand existing efforts to collect biospecimens for childhood cancer patients enrolled in NCI-sponsored clinical trials and to collect and maintain relevant clinical, biological, and demographic information on all children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer
•Authorizes grants to state cancer registries to identify and track incidences of childhood, adolescent, and young adult cancers
•Authorizes grants for pediatric cancer survivorship research and guides the Secretary of Health and Human Services to facilitate the identification of best practices for childhood and adolescent cancer survivorship care
•Requires that the National Cancer Advisory Board include at least one pediatric oncologist to ensure pediatric cancer research concerns are represented in recommendations to the NCI

“Finding cures for pediatric cancers is a major priority for the AACR, as is ensuring that childhood cancer survivors are able to overcome many of the late health effects associated with their prior treatments, including secondary cancers and organ failure,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), CEO of the AACR. “During the past few years, the AACR has been especially focused on making an important difference in the lives of children with cancer by bringing together the brain trust of the field to identify actionable steps that will accelerate progress against pediatric cancer.”