Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 26–Senators Porter, Amodei, Care, Carlton, Coffin, Jacobsen, James, Mathews, McGinness, Neal, O’Connell, O’Donnell, Raggio, Rawson, Rhoads, Schneider, Shaffer, Titus, Townsend, Washington and Wiener

 

April 2, 2001

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Read and Adopted

 

SUMMARY—Proclaims April 2, 2001, as Prostate Cancer Awareness Day and September as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. (BDR R‑1519)

 

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EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted.

 

Senate Concurrent RESOLUTION—Proclaiming April 2, 2001, as Prostate Cancer Awareness Day and September as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

 

   Whereas, In the United States, a man is diagnosed every 3 minutes and one dies every 14 minutes from prostate cancer, the second leading cause of death in men with cancer; and

   Whereas, Of the approximately 30 million men over 50 years of age in the United States, about 42 percent will experience prostate cancer sometime during their lives; and

   Whereas, At this time, the cause of prostate cancer is unknown, it is not preventable, and treatment is most effective during the early stages; and

1-1     Whereas, Former Nevada Governor Bob Miller, prominent Nevada

1-2  television news reporter John Tyson and former presidential candidate

1-3  Robert Dole have been at the forefront in educating Nevadans and the rest

1-4  of the American public about prostate cancer; and

1-5     Whereas, A study by the National Academies of Science of military

1-6  participants in U.S. nuclear weapons tests during the 1950s, including the

1-7  Nevada Test Site, found that deaths from prostate cancer were 20 percent

1-8  higher among nuclear test participants; and

1-9     Whereas, Because many men with prostate cancer have no symptoms,

1-10  they feel confident that they are in good health and do not protect

1-11  themselves by getting regular screening; and

1-12     Whereas, Half or more of primary care doctors do not offer screening

1-13  for prostate cancer, even to men at risk, such as males with a family history

1-14  of the disease and African-American men who have a rate 32 percent

1-15  higher than their Caucasian counterparts; and

2-1     Whereas, Because of the lack of clinical trials, the American Cancer

2-2  Society, the National Cancer Institute and other organizations take a

2-3  conservative approach to screening for prostate cancer, believing that the

2-4  benefit of screening has not been proven; and

2-5     Whereas, Until recently, many doctors felt that testing discovered

2-6  many cases of cancer that need not be treated, causing unnecessary stress

2-7  to the patient, and that treatment sometimes does more harm than good,

2-8  diminishing the quality of life of their patients; and

2-9     Whereas, If not detected early, prostate cancer cells can escape the

2-10  confines of the prostate, making treatment very difficult and increasing the

2-11  mortality rate of the disease; and

2-12     Whereas, Prostate cancer is primarily diagnosed in the early stages

2-13  through a combination of two widely used diagnostic tests, prostate-

2-14  specific antigen (PSA) and digital rectal examination (DRE); and

2-15     Whereas, Before the widespread use of the PSA test just over a decade

2-16  ago, 70 percent of men diagnosed with prostate cancer were diagnosed in

2-17  the advanced stages of the disease; and

2-18     Whereas, Now, because of more frequent use of early testing by the

2-19  PSA and DRE, 70 percent of men are diagnosed in the earlier stages,

2-20  leading to better chances of survival; and

2-21     Whereas, Scientists are enthusiastic about research to detect and find a

2-22  cure for prostate cancer, including treating patients with surgery or

2-23  radiation; and

2-24     Whereas, Studies of treatments using ultrasound are proving

2-25  promising in that they may be more effective and have fewer side effects

2-26  than other treatments; and

2-27     Whereas, Prostate cancer affects not only the men afflicted with this

2-28  disease, but also affects their families and friends; and

2-29     Whereas, Early detection and treatment of this disease are critically

2-30  important; now, therefore, be it

2-31     Resolved by the Senate of the State of Nevada, the Assembly

2-32  Concurring, That the Nevada Legislature is committed to protecting

2-33  men’s health and saving lives by continuing to create greater public

2-34  understanding of prostate cancer and the need for early detection, informed

2-35  choices and continued research; and be it further

2-36     Resolved, That the members of the Legislature proclaim April 2, 2001,

2-37  as Prostate Cancer Awareness Day and September as Prostate Cancer

2-38  Awareness Month.

 

2-39  H