I
118THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 235
To provide for research and education with respect to triple-negative breast
cancer, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JANUARY10, 2023
Ms. J
ACKSONLEEintroduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Energy and Commerce
A BILL
To provide for research and education with respect to triple-
negative breast cancer, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Triple-Negative Breast 4
Cancer Research and Education Act of 2023’’. 5
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6
Congress finds as follows: 7
(1) Breast cancer accounts for 1 in 4 cancer di-8
agnoses among women in this country. 9
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(2) The survival rate for breast cancer has in-1
creased to 90 percent for White women and 78 per-2
cent for African-American women. 3
(3) African-American women are more likely to 4
be diagnosed with larger tumors and more advanced 5
stages of breast cancer despite a lower incidence 6
rate. 7
(4) Early detection for breast cancer increases 8
survival rates for breast cancer, as evidenced by a 5- 9
year relative survival rate of 98 percent for breast 10
cancers that are discovered before the cancer 11
spreads beyond the breast, compared to 23 percent 12
for stage IV breast cancers. 13
(5) Triple-negative breast cancer is a term used 14
to describe breast cancers whose cells do not have 15
estrogen receptors and progesterone receptors, and 16
do not have an excess of the HER2 protein on their 17
sources. 18
(6) It is estimated that between 10 and 20 per-19
cent of female breast cancer patients are diagnosed 20
with triple-negative breast cancer, and studies indi-21
cate the prevalence of triple-negative breast cancer is 22
much higher. 23
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(7) Triple-negative breast cancer most com-1
monly affects African-American women, followed by 2
Hispanic women. 3
(8) Triple-negative breast cancer is a very ag-4
gressive form of cancer which affects women under 5
the age of 50 across all racial and socioeconomic 6
backgrounds. 7
(9) African-American women are 3 times more 8
likely to develop triple-negative breast cancer than 9
White women. 10
(10) Triple-negative breast cancer tends to 11
grow and spread more quickly than most other types 12
of breast cancer. 13
(11) Like other forms of breast cancer, triple- 14
negative breast cancer is treated with surgery, radi-15
ation therapy, or chemotherapy. 16
(12) Early-stage detection of triple-negative 17
breast cancer is the key to survival because the 18
tumor cells lack certain receptors, and neither hor-19
mone therapy nor drugs that target these receptors 20
are effective against these cancers; therefore, early 21
detection and education is vital. 22
(13) Current research and available data do not 23
provide adequate information on— 24
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(A) the rates of prevalence and incidence 1
of triple-negative breast cancer in African- 2
American, Hispanic, and other minority women; 3
(B) the costs associated with treating tri-4
ple-negative breast cancer; and 5
(C) the methods by which triple-negative 6
breast cancer may be prevented or cured in 7
these women. 8
SEC. 3. RESEARCH WITH RESPECT TO TRIPLE-NEGATIVE 9
BREAST CANCER. 10
(a) R
ESEARCH.—The Director of the National Insti-11
tutes of Health (in this section referred to as the ‘‘Direc-12
tor of NIH’’) shall expand, intensify, and coordinate pro-13
grams for the conduct and support of research with re-14
spect to triple-negative breast cancer. 15
(b) A
DMINISTRATION.—The Director of NIH shall 16
carry out this section through the appropriate institutes, 17
offices, and centers of the National Institutes of Health, 18
including the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute 19
of Child Health and Human Development, the National 20
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, the Office of 21
Research on Women’s Health, and the National Institute 22
on Minority Health and Health Disparities. 23
(c) C
OORDINATION OFACTIVITIES.—The Director of 24
the Office of Research on Women’s Health shall coordi-25
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nate activities under this section among the institutes, of-1
fices, and centers of the National Institutes of Health. 2
(d) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 3
purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 4
to be appropriated $500,000 for each of the fiscal years 5
2024 through 2026. 6
SEC. 4. EDUCATION AND DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION 7
WITH RESPECT TO TRIPLE-NEGATIVE 8
BREAST CANCER. 9
(a) T
RIPLE-NEGATIVEBREASTCANCERPUBLIC 10
E
DUCATIONPROGRAM.—The Secretary of Health and 11
Human Services, acting through the Director of the Cen-12
ters for Disease Control and Prevention, shall develop and 13
disseminate to the public information regarding triple-neg-14
ative breast cancer, including information on— 15
(1) the incidence and prevalence of triple-nega-16
tive breast cancer among women; 17
(2) the elevated risk for minority women to de-18
velop triple-negative breast cancer; and 19
(3) the availability, as medically appropriate, of 20
a range of treatment options for symptomatic triple- 21
negative breast cancer. 22
(b) D
ISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec-23
retary may disseminate information under subsection (a) 24
directly or through arrangements with nonprofit organiza-25
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tions, consumer groups, institutions of higher education, 1
Federal, State, or local agencies, or the media. 2
(c) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 3
purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 4
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for 5
each of the fiscal years 2024 through 2026. 6
SEC. 5. INFORMATION TO HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS WITH 7
RESPECT TO TRIPLE-NEGATIVE BREAST CAN-8
CER. 9
(a) D
ISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION.—The Sec-10
retary of Health and Human Services, acting through the 11
Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Ad-12
ministration, shall develop and disseminate to health care 13
providers information on triple-negative breast cancer for 14
the purpose of ensuring that health care providers remain 15
informed about current information on triple-negative 16
breast cancer. Such information shall include the elevated 17
risk for minority women to develop triple-negative breast 18
cancer and the range of available options for the treatment 19
of symptomatic triple-negative breast cancer. 20
(b) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—For the 21
purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized 22
to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for 23
each of the fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 24
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SEC. 6. DEFINITION. 1
In this Act, the term ‘‘minority women’’ means 2
women who are members of a racial and ethnic minority 3
group, as defined in section 1707(g) of the Public Health 4
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300u–6(g)). 5
Æ
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