From the Brenham Banner Press

Tim and Donna Culliver of Brenham have returned from a working trip to Washington, D.C. to meet with members of Congress and push for increased federal funding for medical research to cure childhood cancer.

The Cullivers are volunteer State Team Leaders for CureSearch National Childhood Cancer Foundation, which supports the work of the Children's Oncology Group, the world's premier pediatric cancer research collaborative.

The Cullivers have been Texas State Leaders and advocates in the fight to appropriately fund pediatric cancer research since 2003, after their 4-year-old son Adam died of acute myelogenous leukemia four days after his diagnosis in January 2003.

While in Washington, the Cullivers met with District 10 Rep. Michael McCaul, whose district includes Washington County, in addition to 12 representatives from across Texas. They also learned more about the latest research findings and clinical trial successes, and met with other team leaders from across the country.

"It was very empowering to become part of our government in action," the Cullivers said in a statement. "It is important that everyone in the childhood cancer community stand face to face with our nation's leadership, and demands action for our children.

"Childhood cancer can affect anyone's children, and since the average age of diagnosis is age six, we are talking about adding 65 or more years of life for each child saved. This is truly worth fighting for."

Each year in Texas, approximately 1,100 children and adolescents younger than 20 years of age are diagnosed with cancer.

Approximately 200 children and adolescents die of cancer each year, making it the most common cause of disease-related mortality for Texas 0-19 years of age.

Last summer, both houses of Congress unanimously passed the Caroline Pryce Walker Conquer Childhood Cancer Act, which authorized $150 million over the next five years to further research

"But an ‘authorization' is only a promise of funding, not funding money itself," said Culliver. "I, and other volunteers like me, went to Washington to make sure that this Congress and this administration keep the promise that they made to our children."

More than 12,500 American children are diagnosed with cancer each year.

The Cullivers noted that government funding for cancer research has remained flat for more than six years, and that "every day research is under-funding, the road to discovering treatments and cures becomes longer, and more children die. This is totally unacceptable."

The Children's Oncology Group includes more than 5,000 experts in childhood cancer research and treatment, who are located at more than 200 of the leading children's hospitals, university hospitals and cancer centers in the U.S. and Canada, including Children's Cancer Hospital of MD Anderson and Texas Children's Hospital in Houston and Dell Children's Hospital in Austin.

Combined, those hospitals treat more than 90 percent of all children who are diagnosed with cancer in the United States.

Once an almost always fatal disease, cure rates have risen from less than 10 percent in the 1950s, to almost 80 percent today.

"But 80 percent is not good enough. Cancer is still the number one cause of death from disease for our children. Anything less than 100 percent will never be good enough," said Tim Culliver. "The loss of even one more precious child is one too many."