To Those Who Are Concerned About the American Cancer Epidemic,

The President's Cancer Panel (PCP) is a US federal government advisory

board that oversees the United States' National Cancer Program. ?It

was established by the National Cancer Act of 1971. ?In the Panel's

most recent report, "Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can

Do Now", dated April 2010, the Cancer Panel set before the public

expert testimony based information on pollutant exposure cancer

causation. ?The Panel promulgated the position that widespread

failures have taken place throughout the National Cancer Program,

these being failures to use existing scientific knowledge on the

subject of pollutant exposure cancer outcome for the purpose of

protecting public health.

This position is shared by many cancer prevention and environmental

organizations. ?It is the role of the PCP to provide oversight. ?What

has the PCP observed in the course of its oversight of the National

Cancer Program that led it to take the above stated position? ?What

are the details of what it has observed? ?What are the names of the

people and the government agencies that are failing to use existing

scientific knowledge about pollutant exposure cancer outcome to

prevent cancer?

Cancer Action NY began seeking the opportunity to conduct an on the

record, in-voice interview with Dr. Lasalle Leffall, co-chair of the

PCP, shortly after the report became available in early May 2010. ?No

response was given to the questions set forth below until March 2011.

The answers are inadequate. ?It is clear that the Panel has

encountered push back that has chilled its passion for change. ?A

major source of push back has been the American Cancer Society, an

organization that was created with chemical industry money to serve as

an obstacle to progress toward protection of the environment and

public health from cancer risk imposed by pollutant carcinogens.

I asked the PCP to provide insights from its experiences overseeing

the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in particular the

Division of Cancer Prevention and Control and the National Center for

Environmental Health. ?The PCP's answer to that question was this.

"The President's Cancer Panel is a federal advisory committee

appointed by the President. ?The Panel has no knowledge regarding the

operations of the CDC." ?How can the PCP be providing oversight of the

National Cancer Program and yet state that it has no knowledge of the

CDC, ?It is the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control within CDCP

that conducts the National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program. I

find it shocking that the PCP has no knowledge of the CDC. ?The PCP is

certainly not providing the quality of oversight that I consider to be

necessary to serve as a competent advisor of the President of the

United States. ?In Cancer Action NY's oversight of the National Cancer

Program, we have experienced an outrageous amount of resistance to the

use of existing scientific knowledge for the purpose of preventing

cancers caused by exposure to pollutant carcinogens. ?This resistance

takes place predominantly in the form of refusal to enter into any

substantive discussion on the subjects of pollutant carcinogen

exposure cancer risk and public education concerning exposure

reduction.

I am providing a response letter from PCP and the answers that the PCP

has given to our questions below.

joyous in Nature,

Donald L. Hassig

______________________________________________________________________

March 24, 2011

Donald L. Hassig, Director

Cancer Action NY

Colton, NY USA 13625

By Email to

Dear Mr. Hassig,

Thank you for your sustained interest in the work of the President's

Cancer Panel, specifically the 2008-2009 report, Reducing

Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now. ?As you are aware, the

President's Cancer Panel is a three-person advisory committee tasked

with reviewing the National Cancer Program. The Panel accomplishes its

mission by selecting a specific topic related to the entirety of the

National Cancer Program and holding a series of meetings on that

topic. The topic changes from year to year. The topic of the 2008-2009

series was on environmental carcinogens. The report summarizing the

Panel's findings, conclusions and recommendations was released in

April 2010. The Panel is no longer soliciting testimony on the topic

of environmental carcinogens nor are the Panel members involved in

media outreach on the report.

Allow me to address your concern about the lack of specific coverage

of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the report. The Panel did

not intend for the 2008-2009 report to address every environmental

hazard to which Americans are exposed, as there are far too many to

enumerate in a single report. By highlighting some of the

environmental carcinogens present in our environment, they could

increase awareness of the significant impact these and other

environmental exposures have on cancer risk. Though the Panel did not

address POPs directly, they hope that their recommendations to shift

environmental policy to a precautionary, rather than reactionary

approach; to develop a more integrated, coordinated, and transparent

system for promulgation and enforcement of environmental policy; and

to develop and disseminate public health messages to raise awareness

of environmental cancer risks and encourage people to reduce or

eliminate exposure whenever possible will prevent harmful exposure to

POPs and many other environmental carcinogens, both those that were

and those that were not included in the PCP 2008-2009 report.

In addition, I am aware that you have contacted NCI's Office of

Advocacy Relations and characterized the PCP report ?as advocating for

an increased role for the NCI "in the use of currently existing

scientific knowledge on the subject of pollutant carcinogen exposure

cancer outcome for the purpose of empowering behavior changes among

the general public that will result in cancer risk reduction." ?I

would like to clarify this characterization of the PCP report. The

Panel recommends that epidemiologic and hazard assessment research

must be continued and strengthened in areas where the evidence is

unclear. As part of the National Institutes of Health, NCI would be

expected to play a role in advancing the field of exposure assessment.

I have copied your questions and our answers below and I have attached

them as a word document. I apologize for the delayed response.

I hope that you find these responses informative. As we have concluded

the 2008-2009 series and are no longer soliciting testimony or media

engagements, this is the extent of the information we are able to

provide to you. Should you have any further questions regarding NCI or

environmental carcinogens, please contact the NCI Office of Advocacy

Relations. ?Their website is advocacy.cancer.gov.

Sincerely,

Jennifer Burt, MPH

Special Assistant

President's Cancer Panel

p: 301.594.4025

f: ?301.435.1832

1. How was the decision made to produce the Cancer Panel's report on

pollution and cancer?

* ? ? ? The President's Cancer Panel is a federal advisory committee

appointed by the President. ?It was established in 1971 with the

passage of the National Cancer Act. ?The Panel is charged with

monitoring the development and execution of the activities of the

National Cancer Program.

* ? ? ? Each year, the Panel holds at least four public meetings to

solicit input from a variety of stakeholders and submits an annual

report to the President of the United States with recommendations

focused on improving the National Cancer Program. ?The theme of the

report changes from year to year.

* ? ? ? ?The 2008-2009 report focused on the theme of Environmental

Factors in Cancer.

2. Tell us about the expert testimony received by your panel. ?What

types of chemicals and carcinogenic agents were covered in this

information gathering phase of the Panel's work?

Meeting minutes and summaries can be found on the Panels' website at

this link - http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/pcpmeetings.htm

3. Carcinogenic persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are an important

group of pollutant carcinogens. ?Some of the POPs are pesticides,

others are industrial chemicals. ?The Cancer Panel report included a

section on pesticides and a section on occupational exposure to

industrial chemicals. ?However, there was no mention of POPs as a

major group of carcinogenic chemicals. ?Dioxins, a group of

extensively studied carcinogenic POPs, were not mentioned in the

Cancer Panel report. ?Was a decision made not to address dioxin

exposure cancer risk? ?If such a decision was made, please describe

the basis for that decision.

The report was based on the testimony provided by the expert presenters.

4. Pollutant carcinogen exposure reduction education is the most

powerful use of science for the prevention of cancer. ?Cancer Action

NY advocates for such educational outreach by government at the

federal, state and county levels. ?I would like to discuss a recent

teleconference we conducted on the subject of carcinogenic POPs in the

US food supply and strategies to decrease exposure.

The Panel has concluded its series focused on environmental

carcinogens and is no longer soliciting testimony with regards to this

topic.

5. What are the cancer risk reduction recommendations of the Cancer

Panel report?

The Panel's recommendations to individuals can be found here

http://deainfo.nci.nih.gov/advisory/pcp/annualReports/pcp08-09rpt/PCP_Report_08-09_508.pdf

6. Let's discuss some experiences that I have had advocating for

pollutant carcinogen exposure reduction education by the Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP). ?The Division of Cancer

Prevention and Control (DCPC) is a part of the CDCP that clearly bears

a responsibility for educating Americans concerning pollutant

carcinogen exposure reduction. ?The National Center for Environmental

Health is another CDCP institution with pollutant carcinogen exposure

reduction education responsibilities. ?Neither entity conducts any

educational outreach on carcinogenic POPs exposure reduction. ?I have

made repeated requests for an explanation of why this is the case at

the DCPC. ?No answer has been provided. ?I have been informed by Dr.

Thomas Frieden, Director of the CDCP, that the National Center for

Environmental Health does not have any scientific experts with

knowledge on the subject of POPs exposure cancer risk. ?The Agency for

Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) is a sister agency to

the National Center for Environmental Health. ?ATSDR employs Dr.

Hannah Pohl, who possesses expert knowledge of dioxin exposure cancer

risk. ?I have concluded that the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention are controlled by corporate interests in the chemicals,

manufacturing and food sectors of the economy to the extent that

little or no good intention exists in that federal government health

entity for using science to prevent cancer. ?Do you have any knowledge

concerning the operations of the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention that would help to make clear the reasons why I have

encountered such a lack of pollutant carcinogen exposure reduction

educational outreach at the CDCP?

The President's Cancer Panel is a federal advisory committee appointed

by the President. ?The Panel has no knowledge regarding the operations

of the CDC.

--

Donald L. Hassig, Director

Cancer Action NY

Cancer Action Network

P O Box 340

Colton, NY USA 13625

315.262.2456

www.canceractionny.org

?