SGO Advocates for Continued Research Funding, Addressing Endometrial Cancer Disparities

The congressional appropriations process for FY 2023 is currently underway and SGO has been actively advocating for continued research funding in several areas, including prioritizing research to address endometrial cancer disparities. While in general, incidence and mortality rates for many cancers are dropping significantly, the same declines have not been seen in endometrial cancer. According to American Cancer Society statistics, the incidence of endometrial cancer has increased more than 140% over the past three decades.

Last week, the U.S. House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Related Agencies held a hearing on the FY 2023 NIH budget for which SGO submitted written testimony with recommended language to include in the Subcommittee’s report that will accompany the FY 2023 Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill. From the SGO written statement: “Research is critically needed to help understand barriers to care; elucidate differences in tumor biology; discover new approaches to screening, prevention and treatment; and promote wider implementation of known strategies to facilitate optimal treatments to improve survival for all patients with endometrial cancer.”

The recommended addition reads as follows:

Endometrial Cancer – The Committee remains concerned about the significant disparities in mortality rates for endometrial cancer that adversely impact Black women. The age-adjusted mortality rate for Black women with endometrial cancer is much worse than it is for White women, which is partly attributed to cancer stage at diagnosis. The Committee urges the NCI to conduct research activities that will lead to the development of targeted interventions to improve early diagnosis among Black women with endometrial cancer and improved access to high quality care through innovative community-based outreach methods to increase the enrollment and participation by Black women in clinical trials. The Committee requests an update on NCI’s activities regarding endometrial cancer in the fiscal year 2024 Congressional Justification, including progress made in endometrial cancer early diagnosis, survival rates, and clinical trial enrollment by ethnicity.

Read the full statement from SGO, and view the hearing online.