A bill (HF 2310) to provide funding for pediatric cancer research in Iowa has advanced through a House subcommittee. The state would give $3 million each year to Iowa’s public universities for research and clinical trials focused on childhood cancer.
Isabelle Ireland of Sigourney said she was diagnosed with a rare form of ovarian cancer when she was 16 years old and had a 10% chance of survival. She said her treatment was only developed a couple of years before her diagnosis.
“So if it wasn’t for research and just medical leaders in other states who were able to give that information to our state, I would not be standing here today,” Ireland said. “And I want to ensure that that is not a sacrifice and a fight that other families have to put up, but instead that we are taking care of them.”
Parents of kids with cancer say more research is needed to make treatments more effective and less toxic to avoid causing secondary cancers.