Good afternoon. Thank you Dr. Sigal for that kind introduction. What a delight you are. I'd also like to thank Friends of Cancer Research, Foundation for the National Institute of Health, Dr. von Eschenbach, and all the members of Congress who took time out of their day to join us today to award some critical grants to expand the scope of cancer research.

• One out of every four deaths that occur in the United States is cancer related.
• Approximately 1.3 million Americans develop some form of cancer each and every year.
• In 2002 alone, the overall cost of fighting cancer was estimated to be almost $172 billion.

These are sad statistics. But I don't need to tell you that. Cancer affects the lives of all of us in this great country. We have all had a friend or family member diagnosed with cancer, and many of us have lost someone to this dreaded and insidious disease.

As Secretary of Health and Human Services, I do everything I can to ensure Americans stay strong, healthy, and independent. And improving treatment for cancer is one of our greatest priorities as a country. We cannot rest until we can prevent, treat, and cure cancer.

The National Cancer Institute, led by Dr. von Eschenbach - who is doing a wonderful job, Friends of Cancer Research, and the cancer centers represented here perform excellent work every day. Their researchers, scientists, doctors and volunteers are committed to advancing the quest of finding a treatment for cancer. I want to thank all of you for your compassion and dedication to cancer research.

We are making great progress in fighting cancer.

• Last week, we gained fresh insight into the appropriate screening intervals for colorectal cancer after a negative exam.
• In June, our scientists at NCI found a new method to shrink tumors by inhibiting the molecule CTLA-4 as a component of immunotherapy.
• And a few weeks ago we gave FDA approval for Gleevec tablets for the treatment of pediatric patients with Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia. We worked together to accelerate the drug approval process for adults and children so we could help give relief… and assistance… and hope for those patients.

But we could not achieve this progress without the willingness of countless volunteers, who not only battle cancer, but also help researchers by sharing their stories and their medical data.

I would like to thank four of our dedicated clinical trial volunteers for joining us today: Kimberly Lawler- Krain, Charlene Wallace, Juanita Lyles and Stephan Walker. All four have struggled with cancer and each has a personal story. Kimberly and Charlene will briefly share their stories with you today. I've talked with these ladies. After you hear them, you'll never think of cancer in quite the same way again.

These volunteers are critical to our research. The better we understand these diseases, the better we will be able to prevent them and the better we will be able to treat other patients affected by them. And because different people respond to treatments in different ways, we need more clinical volunteers - of all shapes and sizes and ages - in order to enhance and in order to improve our medical knowledge.

To recruit these volunteers, I am deeply honored today, as Secretary of this wonderful department, to award $5.7 million in grants to six cancer centers. These centers will implement and design new approaches to recruit more elderly and minority volunteers. And these grants open up a new front in our fight against cancer.

About a year ago, many of us gathered to announce Phase 1 of this project. At that time five pharmaceutical companies joined with the National Cancer Institute in an unprecedented effort to help clinical and comprehensive cancer centers increase minority and elderly patient participation in early stage clinical trials. Now, as Phase 2 starts, we are happy to announce the winners of our grants.

The six centers we have selected are:

• The University of California-Davis Cancer Center,
• The University of Colorado, Health Services Center,
• The Massachusetts General Hospital,
• The Washington University,
• The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center,
• and the University of Pittsburgh

I believe Dr. von Eschenbach will elaborate on how important this partnership we're seeing is to research. But I wanted to thank Friends of Cancer Research for initiating this groundbreaking collaborative effort between the National Cancer Institute - led by Dr. von Eschenbach - and the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health - led by Dr. Zerhouni. And I'm very grateful for the five pharmaceutical companies who also joined us in this effort: Aventis, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly and Company, GlaxoSmithKline and Novartis. I thank all of you for working with your competitors in a very friendly way to advance cancer research. I hope others will follow your example. If we can get all of these groups working together, we're going to make great progress in finding a cure for this insidious disease.

I want to congratulate the six winning centers. The information you will discover from increased volunteer participation will help people around the world.

I thank all of you for being involved and I thank all of you for being here.

God Bless You. And God Bless America.

Last Revised: July 9, 2003

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