STAR Act funding helps all survivors
Your participation helped us get $8.5 million in STAR Act funding
The LTFU Study has received $8.5 million through the STAR (Survivorship, Treatment, Access, and Research) Act. Your participation in the LTFU Study has helped us push for more research to continue helping childhood cancer survivors.
The original STAR Act was enacted in 2018. It directed the National Cancer Institute to use $28 million to expand childhood cancer research efforts in biobanking/ biospecimen research and survivorship through 2023. Biospecimens are materials from the human body, such as tissue and blood, which can be used for cancer research. They are stored in biobanks. Biospecimens are made available for scientists to study.
In 2023, Congress reauthorized the STAR Act through 2028. Our new funding will help us learn more through genomic sequencing of breast, thyroid and brain tumor that are common in survivors. Genomic sequencing helps scientists learn more about mistakes in DNA that lead to cancer.
Part of the STAR Act-funded research involves collecting blood samples from LTFU participants. So far, more than 1,500 people have given samples. Each person receives $100 in thanks. Because of these samples, extra STAR Act support will help us learn more about how cancer therapy affects the methylation of survivors' DNA. Methylation is a change in DNA based on environmental exposures like cancer treatment.
These new genomic resources may also help us understand why survivors appear to biologically age faster than those who did not have cancer. We hope that findings from this research will help us find more ways to keep survivors healthy as they age.
Finally, STAR ACT funding supports studies that are needed as we consider expanding the LTFU Study to include survivors from more recent time periods.
Thank you so much for taking part in the LTFU Study. By sharing your experiences, you help childhood cancer patients and survivors around the world. We will provide more information about STAR Act funding in future newsletters. This funding is a terrific opportunity to expand our research.