UNLV President Carol C. Harter said today that bipartisan legislation co-authored by U.S. Sen. Harry Reid could benefit women in Nevada and around the country diagnosed with breast cancer and could ultimately lead to a cure for the disease.

The "Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Act of 2000" would provide $30 million per year over five years for grants to study the impact of environmental factors on breast cancer. Up to eight research centers around the United States would be established by the National Institutes for Environmental Health Sciences, which would administer the program.

"We know that environmental factors are often cited as the cause of cancer," Harter stated. "By providing resources to focus narrowly on the impact of the environment on breast cancer specifically, we will hopefully be able to better treat breast cancer patients and be one step closer to finding a cure," she said. "Senator Reid should be applauded by all Nevadans -- women and men alike -- for championing such an important cause." Harter added that this new legislation is part of Sen. Reid's history of championing women's health issues, which includes his successful push to create the National Institutes of Health's office of women's health.

Harter said that she hopes that the Reid legislation will ultimately be signed into law and that the UNLV Cancer Institute would consider competing for one of the eight centers that would be funded.

"There have been recent reports in the press of prominent Las Vegans who have had to travel out of Nevada for breast cancer and other cancer treatment," Harter said. "These are not isolated cases. Thousands of our state's residents must leave their homes to receive immediate and long-term cancer care. The Reid breast cancer legislation and other efforts the senator is undertaking to combat Nevada's high cancer rates will hopefully allow all of our citizens to be treated close to home, with their families nearby."