10/03/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 10/03/2025 08:05
Washington, D.C.- 10/3/25… Last week, Reps. Mike Lawler (NY-17), Laura Gillen (NY-04), and Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy and National Cancer Institute Deputy Director Douglas Lowy calling on their agencies to reconsider proposed federal funding cuts to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium.
"We are deeply concerned by the National Cancer Institute's decision to terminate funding for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC) and transition the PBTC's functions over to the Pediatric Early Phase Clinical Trials Network (PEP-CTN)," the lawmakers wrote. "This decision could undermine critical research offering hope to children and families facing heartbreaking diagnoses. We urge you to reverse this decision and provide clarity on this decision to researchers, families, and most importantly, patients who will be affected by this change.
"This decision is devastating for patients, for researchers, and for so many affected by pediatric brain cancer," the lawmakers continued. "We cannot afford to take this step backward, and we stand ready to work on a bipartisan basis in Congress to ensure that this research continues in full and that the United States continues to support research, innovation and medical breakthroughs. We urge you to reconsider this harmful decision."
The PBTC is an association of academic centers and children's hospitals, including the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, dedicated to trials of novel treatments for pediatric brain cancer. Since 1999, the PBTC has made use of Federal dollars to develop lifesaving therapies to treat some of the deadliest pediatric brain cancers.
The letter was also endorsed by the National Brain Tumor Society.
"Before the Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium (PBTC), there was no coordinated, systematic approach to prioritize and evaluate promising therapies for children and young adults with brain tumors-the leading cause of childhood cancer death," said David Arons, President & Chief Executive Officer of the National Brain Tumor Society. "Since 1999, as the only NCI-funded initiative solely focused on early-phase pediatric brain tumor trials, the PBTC has played a pivotal role in advancing potential new treatments for these vulnerable patients. Closing it would weaken an already fragile but essential research and drug development ecosystem unless an even stronger, durable, and equally focused network is established. As advocates, the National Brain Tumor Society must urge NCI to sustain PBTC's critical functions and work."
Congressman Lawler is one of the most bipartisan members of Congress and represents New York's 17th Congressional District, which is just north of New York City and contains all or parts of Rockland, Putnam, Dutchess, and Westchester Counties. He was rated the most effective freshman lawmaker in the 118th Congress, 8th overall, surpassing dozens of committee chairs.
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The full letter can be found HERE.