In March 2017, the president signed the Consolidate Appropriations Act for FY2017, which called for a $10 million appropriation for kidney cancer research as part of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), managed by the Department of Defense. This past spring, ACKC lobbied for a continuation of kidney cancer’s $10 million funding for FY2018, which commences September 1st. CDMRP encompasses around 18 cancer types with most of them falling under the $60 million Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Programs (PRCRP) – the dozen or so cancer types share the $60 million, which is proportioned among them according to the worthiness of the applications. Only five cancers have targeted funding: breast, prostate, ovarian and lung, with kidney cancer having joined this group in FY2017.

Senator Casey (D-PA) circulated a Dear Colleague letter in May 2017 to his fellow senators, addressed to Senators Cochran (R-MS) and Durbin (D-IL), the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Senate Defense Appropriations Committee, asking that CDMRP funding be continued in FY2018. 36 senators signed on to this letter.

Sen. Casey FY 2018 Dear Colleague CDMRP Letter a