April 20-26 is National Minority Cancer Awareness Week
Recent published reports have indicated that African Americans and other medically underserved minorities have significantly higher cancer incidence and mortality rates than white Americans. Because researchers believe these disparities are caused primarily by preventable social and economic factors — including a lack of access to quality care, low enrollment in clinical trials, language and cultural barriers, and disproportionate numbers of medically uninsured or underinsured — an increased awareness of this problem by all Americans can be the first step in finding its solution.
Related Stories
- Underserved U.S. minorities face "unequal burden of cancer" that must be corrected, according to reports (March 25, 2003)
- Study suggests lack of health care access to blame for lower survival rates for African-Americans with colon cancer (Aug. 6, 2002)
- Effect of race in prostate cancer survival is questioned (May 19, 2002)
- The Friends of Dana-Farber Cancer Risk and Prevention Clinic
- Test Your Cancer Risk
Related Talk
In support of minority cancer awareness week, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute is hosting a talk, titled "Racial/Ethnical Disparities and Cross Cultural Care," by Joseph R. Betancourt, MD, MPH, on Wednesday, April 23, from 8-9 a.m. The talk will take place in the Smith Family Room at Dana-Farber. To learn more, please call (617) 632-3244.
