NEW IN 2023: The Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act Signed into Law!

The original Childhood Cancer Survivorship, Treatment, Access and Research (STAR) Act was signed into law in 2018 and authorized five years of funding at $30 million annually from 2019-2023. The STAR Act was celebrated as the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever taken up by Congress.

This legislation expands opportunities for childhood cancer research, improves efforts to identify and track childhood cancer incidences, and enhances the quality of life for childhood cancer survivors. By age 50, more than 99 percent of childhood cancer survivors have had a chronic health problem, and 96% have experienced a severe of life-threatening condition caused by the toxicity of the treatment they received.

Passage of the original STAR Act was a true collaborative effort with many organizations and coalitions working together tirelessly. It was a huge milestone for our community, and we thank every advocate who reached out to Congress and helped make it happen.

In 2022, we did it again, securing passage of the Childhood Cancer STAR Reauthorization Act in both chambers of Congress just before the end of the 117th Congress. It was signed into law in early January 2023.

Reauthorizing this landmark legislation for five more years enables STAR Act programs to continue making a life-saving impact for the 16,000 children in the U.S. who are diagnosed with cancer every year and the more than 500,000 survivors who face a lifetime of health challenges due to their treatment. Children’s Cancer Cause helped draft the original legislation and chaired the Alliance for Childhood Cancer’s survivorship workgroup, which was instrumental in drafting the survivorship provisions of the STAR Reauthorization Act.

The 2022 bipartisan reauthorization bill was introduced in the Senate by Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). Its House sponsors are Representatives Michael McCaul (R-TX-10), Jackie Speier (D-CA-14), Mike Kelly (R-PA-16), and G. K. Butterfield (D-NC-01). We thank these Members for their continued leadership on childhood cancer issues.

April 2022: Dr. Emily Tonorezos, Director of the Office of Cancer Survivorship at NCI, shares her view on the impact of the STAR Act since its passage in 2018.