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SENATE DOCKET, NO. 676 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1484
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Joanne M. Comerford
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to reduce incidence and death from pancreatic cancer.
_______________
PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Joanne M. ComerfordHampshire, Franklin and WorcesterMark C. MontignySecond Bristol and Plymouth1/23/2025Danillo A. Sena37th Middlesex1/24/2025Paul K. Frost7th Worcester1/24/2025James B. EldridgeMiddlesex and Worcester1/27/2025John F. KeenanNorfolk and Plymouth1/29/2025Sal N. DiDomenicoMiddlesex and Suffolk1/29/2025William N. BrownsbergerSuffolk and Middlesex2/3/2025Jacob R. OliveiraHampden, Hampshire and Worcester2/10/2025John J. Marsi6th Worcester2/11/2025Hannah Kane11th Worcester2/11/2025James K. Hawkins2nd Bristol2/11/2025Nick CollinsFirst Suffolk2/12/2025Kathleen R. LaNatra12th Plymouth2/14/2025Jason M. LewisFifth Middlesex2/14/2025Patricia D. JehlenSecond Middlesex2/19/2025Steven George Xiarhos5th Barnstable2/24/2025Bruce E. TarrFirst Essex and Middlesex2/26/2025 1 of 5
SENATE DOCKET, NO. 676 FILED ON: 1/14/2025
SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1484
By Ms. Comerford, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 1484) of Joanne M. Comerford,
Mark C. Montigny, Danillo A. Sena, Paul K. Frost and other members of the General Court for
legislation to reduce incidence and death from pancreatic cancer. Public Health.
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 1330 OF 2023-2024.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act to reduce incidence and death from pancreatic cancer.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Chapter 111 of the General Laws is hereby amended by adding the
2following section:-
3 Section 245. (a) The department shall administer a comprehensive pancreatic cancer
4initiative to provide coordinated pancreatic cancer prevention, screening, education and support
5programs in the commonwealth. The department may develop and implement other initiatives
6regarding pancreatic cancer awareness, research and care that the department determines will
7further the purposes of this section.
8 (b) There shall be a pancreatic cancer advisory council within the department. The
9council shall be appointed and convened by the commissioner and shall consist of 13 members 2 of 5
10representing interdisciplinary fields including, but not limited to, oncology, palliative care,
11medicine, nursing, social work, pharmacy, spirituality and the area of patient and family
12caregiver advocacy, including health professionals having expertise treating pancreatic cancer
13patients and their families; provided, at least 1 member shall be a representative of the Pancreatic
14Cancer Action Network and 1 member shall be a representative of the American Cancer Society
15Cancer Action Network. The commissioner may appoint other members that the commissioner
16deems appropriate. Council members shall serve for a period of 3 years at the pleasure of the
17commissioner. The members shall elect a chair and vice chair whose duties shall be established
18by the council. The department shall provide a place for regular meetings of the council, which
19shall meet at least monthly.
20 Council members shall receive no compensation for their services but shall be allowed
21actual and necessary expenses in the performance of their council duties.
22 The council shall:
23 (1) Investigate and make recommendations for a system to certify and approve hospital
24systems that meet National Pancreatic Cancer Foundation criteria and post this information on an
25appropriate state website and on advocacy organization websites.
26 (2) Identify institutions and hospital systems which could meet the criteria in areas that
27are geographically underserved and provide them with incentives to develop the necessary
28resources to comply in order to assure that all residents have access to hospitals that meet the
29criteria.
30 (3) Investigate and make recommendations for the establishment of a multi-provider
31consortium to develop and disseminate amongst each other best practice algorithms, decision 3 of 5
32aids for electronic health record systems, and quality metrics for all phases of care in pancreatic
33cancer. The consortium shall partner with other entities including, but not limited to, patient
34organizations, National Institute of Health and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action
35Network to develop and maintain a portfolio of statewide clinical trials in pancreatic cancer.
36 (4) Disseminate targeted communications to primary care providers and their office staff
37to connect them with the consortium members and resources which are local to their practices.
38 (5) Utilize the local resources of the consortium members to fully operationalize existing
39state initiatives to identify existing cancer support services, survivorship care and counseling and
40to expand these initiatives to meet current needs.
41 (6) Develop and support the use in all hospitals of a standard consent form for pancreatic
42cancer patients to consent to donate their tissue samples without restrictions for tissue collection
43and banking for research.
44 (c) The department, in conjunction with the pancreatic cancer advisory council, shall
45conduct a comprehensive study to ascertain the prevalence and incidence of pancreatic cancer in
46the commonwealth, the unmet needs of persons with pancreatic cancer and their families, time-
47of-diagnosis statistics and likely risks for pancreatic cancer. Information collected by the study
48shall include, but not be limited to, the following:
49 (1) germline testing results;
50 (2) molecular tumor analysis in patients with metastatic disease;
51 (3) hospitals treating the highest volume of pancreatic cancer patients;
52 (4) information on stage of diagnosis; 4 of 5
53 (5) treatment rendered, including chemotherapy, radiation therapy, surgical treatment,
54neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy;
55 (6) patient outcomes;
56 (7) number of patients diagnosed who did not receive any treatment or palliative care;
57and
58 (8) number of pancreatic resections performed at each hospital and associated outcomes.
59 (d) The department, in conjunction with the pancreatic cancer advisory council, shall
60develop and implement a statewide public education and community outreach program to inform
61the general public about genetic risks, signs, symptoms, and premalignant conditions associated
62with pancreatic cancer, including new-onset diabetes, and the availability of clinical trials for
63those with pancreatic cancer. In developing and implementing the program, the commissioner
64shall consult with similar programs including, but not limited to, anti-tobacco, obesity and other
65pre-malignant conditions associated with pancreatic cancer. The department shall add pancreatic
66cancer to the list of diseases that its programs target with counseling for tobacco discontinuation,
67diet and weight management.
68 SECTION 2. The commissioner of insurance shall survey health insurers in the
69commonwealth to ascertain coverage benefits of genetic testing for pancreatic cancer across
70health insurance plans, and present its findings to the committee on health care financing and the
71committee on financial services no later than June 30, 2026.
72 SECTION 3. The center for health information and analysis shall conduct a review and
73update of its mandated benefit review of pancreatic cancer screenings as reported in the center’s 5 of 5
74report titled “Mandated Benefit Review of S.B. 471: An Act relative to pancreatic cancer
75screening,” dated July 2014, including an update of the cost analysis for pancreatic cancer
76screening for high-risk individuals. The center shall present its findings and update to the
77committee on health care financing and the committee on financial services no later than June
7830, 2026.
79 SECTION 4. The initial meeting of the pancreatic cancer advisory council shall convene
80no later than 60 days after the effective day of this act.