‘Manogram’ draws attention of federal lawmakers

Last year, a group lobbying for government funds to develop better ways to detect prostate cancer launched a public awareness program with an iconic spokesgland. Prosty's lighthearted delivery of a no-nonsense message about prostate cancer appears to be paying off.

The AdMeTech Foundation, which developed the campaign, announced last week that 43 members of the U.S. House of Representatives have cosigned a bipartisan bill, HR 863, that calls for increased attention to and investment in prostate imaging and image-guided minimally invasive treatment for prostate cancer.

The foundation developed and championed this resolution in cooperation with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD), a senior member of Congress and former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.

The resolution "expresses the sense of the House of Representatives" that there should be an increased federal commitment to supporting the development of innovative advanced imaging technologies for prostate cancer detection and treatment, according to the legislation. HR 863 notes that prostate cancer has reached epidemic proportions, striking at least one in six men in the U.S., with African Americans having a 60% higher incidence than whites and a mortality rate twice as high.

The resolution calls for Congress and the executive branch to provide additional support for the research and development of technologies for prostate cancer detection and treatment comparable to state-of-the-art mammograms.

For further information from the Diagnostic Imaging archives:

Prosty the Spokesgland (was a happy jolly soul)