“I write to respectfully request the National Institutes of Health (NIH) prioritize research intended to prevent, treat, and cure pediatric cancer. As you know, aside from accidents, cancer is the leading cause of death among children under the age of 14,” Kinzinger wrote in a letter to Collins.

Kinzinger was inspired to write by one of his constituents, 17-year-old Megan Bugg of Coal City, Illinois, who has stage 4 Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS). She is a passionate advocate for pediatric cancer research in hopes of helping other young people.

“Megan has undergone 90 weeks of chemotherapy, over 100 radiation treatments, and three surgeries over the last three years,” Kinzinger wrote. “At a time where she should be focused on high school, extracurricular activities, and planning her future, Megan must face her teen years with memory issues — often called “chemo brain”— a lifetime of infertility, and an uncertain future.”

In 2018, an estimated 10,590 children will be diagnosed with cancer and 1,180 will die from it, according to the American Cancer Society.

“Megan has dedicated her time and efforts to raising awareness and fundraising for pediatric cancer research, with hopes to change these daunting statistics. I believe hope is contagious and I implore you to show her there is hope by dedicating more NIH resources to researching pediatric cancers like hers,” Kinzinger wrote.

The congressman has supported increasing the NIH budget each of the past three years, including this year’s $3 billion increase through the FY18 Omnibus.

“I realize your organization is pulled in many directions, from research on mental health to Alzheimer’s Disease and beyond, but I encourage you to do all you can to prioritize pediatric cancer, which is a diagnosis a child receives, on average, when they are just six-years-old,” Kinzinger wrote.


The original article can be found on the Life Science Daily website here.