Florida Senate - 2011                            (NP)    SR 2220
       
       
       
       By Senator Haridopolos
       
       
       
       
       26-05741A-11                                          20112220__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing May 2011 as “Brain Tumor
    3         Awareness Month” in Florida.
    4  
    5         WHEREAS, 62,000 Americans are diagnosed with a primary
    6  brain tumor each year and 150,000 more are diagnosed with a
    7  metastatic brain tumor that results from cancer spreading from
    8  another part of the body to the brain, and
    9         WHEREAS, brain tumors are the leading cause of death from
   10  solid tumors in children under the age of 20 and are the third
   11  leading cause of death from cancer in young adults between the
   12  ages of 20 and 39, and
   13         WHEREAS, brain tumors may be malignant or benign, but can
   14  be life-threatening in either case, and
   15         WHEREAS, 612,000 Americans have been diagnosed and are
   16  living with a brain tumor, and
   17         WHEREAS, the treatment of brain tumors is complicated by
   18  the fact that more than 120 different types of brain tumors
   19  exist, and
   20         WHEREAS, the treatment of brain tumors presents significant
   21  challenges because of their location, the difficulty of
   22  delivering treatment across the blood-brain barrier and the
   23  serious edema that results when the blood-brain barrier is
   24  disrupted, and the obstacles to complete surgical removal of
   25  tumors, and
   26         WHEREAS, brain tumors have been described as a disease that
   27  affects the essence of “self,” and
   28         WHEREAS, brain tumor research is supported by a number of
   29  private nonprofit research foundations and by institutes at the
   30  National Institutes of Health, including the National Cancer
   31  Institute and the National Institute for Neurological Disorders
   32  and Stroke, and
   33         WHEREAS, important advances have been made in understanding
   34  brain tumors, including the genetic characterization of
   35  glioblastoma multiforme, one of the deadliest forms of brain
   36  tumor, and
   37         WHEREAS, advances in basic research may fuel the research
   38  and development of new treatments, and
   39         WHEREAS, daunting obstacles still remain to the development
   40  of new treatments and no strategies for the screening or early
   41  detection of brain tumors exist, and
   42         WHEREAS, there is a need for greater public awareness of
   43  brain tumors, including awareness of the difficulties associated
   44  with research and the opportunities for advances in brain tumor
   45  research and treatment, NOW, THEREFORE,
   46  
   47  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   48  
   49         That May 2011 is recognized as “Brain Tumor Awareness
   50  Month” in Florida.