Capito-led bill tackling childhood cancer signed into law

On Jan. 5, President Joe Biden signed into law a bipartisan, bicameral bill co-authored by U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) that will continue to advance childhood cancer research, improve efforts to identify and track incidences of childhood cancer, and enhance the quality of life for survivors.

“I’m thrilled to reauthorize this meaningful legislation, which will ultimately allow these opportunities to continue and bring us closer to a world without childhood cancer,” said Sen. Capito, the lead original cosponsor of the Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research (STAR) Reauthorization Act of 2022, S. 4120.

She introduced the measure in April 2022 with bill sponsor U.S. Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), while the identical H.R. 7630 was introduced at the same time by U.S. Reps. Michael McCaul (R-TX) and Jackie Speier (D-CA) in their chamber. President Biden on Thursday signed S. 4120 into law, reauthorizing for five more years what the lawmakers say is the most comprehensive childhood cancer bill ever passed by Congress.

Since being signed into law in 2018, the STAR Act has helped deliver more than $120 million to fund childhood cancer research and assist patients and families battling cancer, according to a bill summary provided by Sen. Capito’s office. 

“I was incredibly proud to be part of the passage of the STAR Act in 2018, which has made an important difference in the lives of children with cancer, as well as childhood cancer survivors and their families,” Sen. Capito said. “Since that time, the legislation has resulted in unprecedented opportunities and funding for childhood cancer research, allowed us to better understand and track the incidence of disease, and improved the quality of life for childhood cancer survivors.”

Specifically, the measure will expand opportunities for childhood cancer research by reauthorizing existing efforts at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to collect biospecimens for childhood cancer patients enrolled in NCI-sponsored clinical trials to collect and maintain relevant clinical, biological, and demographic information on all children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer, the summary says.

Among several other provisions, the bill authorizes grants to state cancer registries to identify and track incidences of child, adolescent, and young adult cancer, establishes a new pilot program to begin to explore innovative models of care for childhood cancer survivors, and requires that childhood health reporting requirements include pediatric cancer, according to the summary.