PETITION
To the United States Congress:
Prostate cancer has reached epidemic proportions and now strikes at least one in six American men, with African-American men having a 60 percent higher incidence rate than Caucasian men and a mortality rate twice as high;
Each year more than 230,000 American men are newly diagnosed with prostate cancer, more than 1,500,000 men have biopsies, and around 30,000 men fall prey to this potential killer;
The absence of advanced imaging technologies to detect and treat prostate cancer often can result in unnecessary and costly medical procedures that increase psychological and emotional trauma for American men and their families;
The lack of accurate imaging tools means that biopsies can miss cancer even when multiple samples are taken, and current treatments--either radical surgery or radiation--can leave 50 to 80 percent of men incontinent or impotent or both; and
Advanced imaging technologies could be combined with treatment tools to perform image-guided, minimally invasive and precisely targeted interventions, which will be performed in outpatient clinics with minimal discomfort, complications and costs and which will end the fear, pain, suffering and costs that prostate cancer causes men and their families;
Therefore, the undersigned call upon Congress and the Executive Branch to recognize the successful use of advanced imaging technologies in the fight against breast cancer and to provide additional support for the research and development of technologies for prostate cancer detection and treatment comparable to state-of-the-art mammograms.
Please find their addresses, email addresses or webforms to send your petition to them:
Petition Mail Sample:
As a concerned constituent and someone affected by prostate cancer, I am writing to respectfully request that you make funding for prostate cancer research a top budget priority.
Please support full funding for the Prostate Cancer Research Program in the Department of Defense and the Cancer Research programs at the National Institutes of Health, in the Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2007.
These programs are critical to help win the war against this terrible disease.
I believe that your commitment to increasing prostate cancer research funding will help lead to treatment breakthroughs and, ultimately, a cure.
I appreciate your attention to my request and thank you in advance for your support. I look forward to hearing back from you regarding your efforts to support the battle against cancer.
Signed:
Address:
Petition Email Sample:
Please Make Cancer Research a Top Priority
Dear [Decision Maker],
As a concerned constituent and someone affected by prostate cancer, I am writing to respectfully request that you make funding for prostate cancer research a top budget priority.
Please support full funding for the Prostate Cancer Research Program in the Department of Defense, and Cancer Research programs at the National Institutes of Health, in the Appropriations bill for fiscal year 2007. These programs are critical to help win the war against this terrible disease.
I believe that your commitment to increasing prostate cancer research funding will help lead to treatment breakthroughs and, ultimately, a cure.
I appreciate your attention to my request and thank you in advance for your support. I look forward to hearing back from you regarding your efforts to support the battle against cancer.
Sincerely,
[Your Name]
[Your Address]
[City, State ZIP]