Special to The Leader

SILSBEE, Texas — Next week, more than 700 cancer patients, survivors, volunteers and staff from all 50 states and nearly every congressional district will unite in Washington, D.C., as part of the annual American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) Leadership Summit and Lobby Day. Advocates will ask Congress to take specific steps to make cancer a national priority and help end a disease that still kills 1,600 people a day in this country.

Nancy Neel of Silsbee will meet with her congressperson and senators to discuss the need to support an increase in federal funding for cancer research. She will also ask them to co-sponsor legislation that supports patients’ quality of life and would close a loophole in Medicare that often results in surprise costs for seniors when a polyp is found during a routine colonoscopy.

Neel is a longtime volunteer with ACS CAN is a caregiver to her Dad who was diagnosed with Colon Cancer. She is happy to say that he is now 19 years Cancer Free! She advocates for increased funding for research to Honor her Dad and in Memory of her Aunt and so many family and friends that have lost their battle with cancer.

“This year, it is estimated that more than 39,000 Texans will lose their battle with cancer. We need a full and unwavering commitment from Congress to take action to help prevent and treat cancer,” Neel said. “We want our lawmakers to know that volunteers from Texas, and from every state across the country, are counting on them to take a stand.”

ACS CAN, the nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy affiliate of the American Cancer Society, supports evidence-based policy and legislative solutions designed to eliminate cancer as a major health problem. ACS CAN works to encourage elected officials and candidates to make cancer a top national priority. ACS CAN gives ordinary people extraordinary power to fight cancer with the training and tools they need to make their voices heard. For more information,

visit ​http://www.acscan.org/​.