Articles by Cliff Despres

How to Prevent Cervical Cancer among Latinos

November 23, 2015

A vaccine can't prevent disease unless people use it. In Texas, only 39% of girls and 15% of boys ages 13-17 complete the three-dose HPV vaccine for the human papillomavirus (HPV), a common sexually transmitted infection that can cause cervical cancer and other problems. Dr. Deborah Parra-Medina has a plan to change that. Parra-Medina, a Latino health researcher at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, received a new $1.2 million grant from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas to develop an professional education and community outreach program to increase awareness and uptake of the HPV vaccine among young boys and girls in South Texas. She and her team will train local health care providers to deliver accurate ...

Tanya Enriquez: Latina Cancer Survivor

October 21, 2015

When you’re 27 years old the last thing that crosses your mind are mammograms, breast self-examination and breast cancer. “My doctor had said I was too young to have a mammogram, so when I finally heard the breast cancer diagnosis after tests on my “cyst,” my whole body went numb. I didn’t have time for cancer; I was getting married. On December 5, 1997,” Tanya Enriquez says. Her honeymoon turned into a visit to the hospital to have 20 lymph nodes removed, and an aggressive chemotherapy treatment. Soon after her diagnosis Tanya met Marta Zuniga, a stage III breast cancer patient and later met Susan Coll, the three were known as the Three Muskateers. “We had a bond that not many shared. We were all under 30 and had breast cancer. We would talk, laugh, and go out to lunch, ...

Bea Vasquez: Latina Cancer Survivor

October 19, 2015

For Bea Vasquez, cancer was not something new. Breast cancer took her grandmother away when she was a teenager. Because of her family history and her work with the American Cancer Society, Bea schedule mammograms every September. “In 1998, I was so busy at work that I didn’t get a mammogram until the following March. After a second mammogram and a sonogram, I was diagnosed with breast cancer,” she says. The tumor was very small, so no chemotherapy was required, but to be safe she decided to have radiation. “I know it may sound as if I was really informed, and I was. I was cancer-free, but what I wasn’t free of was fear. Fear of dying and leaving my daughter and mother behind. I gave this and all other worries to the Lord.” Today, Bea enjoys traveling and grows her own ...

Mary González: Sobreviviente de cáncer de seno

October 12, 2015

Algunos meses después de la muerte de su madre, Mary González consulto con su doctor si era necesario hacerse un mamograma, el doctor le dijo que estaba muy joven. Dos años después se encontró un bulto por debajo de su brazo y después de insistirle a su doctor que lo revisará descubrió que tenía cáncer de seno. “Era como una pesadilla. Todas las cosas pasaban muy rápidamente y yo estaba muy aturdida. Se tenían que tomar muchas decisiones en muy poco tiempo. Me aterrorizaba acordarme de mi mamá cuando estaba recibiendo su tratamiento de quimioterapia, la pérdida de su pelo, la náusea y el vómito,” nos cuenta Mary. La lucha contra el cáncer se convirtió en una batalla familiar para la familia González. “Mi esposo y yo nos educamos sobre el cáncer del seno y su ...

Joan Treviño Lawhon: Latina Cancer Survivor

October 12, 2015

Like many breast cancer survivors for Joan Treviño Lawhon her breast cancer detection started with a gut feeling. “My basic tests were within normal limits, but I had what I can only describe as a “gut feeling, “she says. “ I had some very supportive doctors who followed through on my instincts. It took five tests to confirm a malignancy.” As soon as she heard the diagnosis from her doctors and confirmed her “gut” feeling she immediately got into fighting mode. “We can freeze and let the disease consume us, or we can fight. My choice was to fight. I was going to make sure my choice was an informed one. My husband Garey had lost his valiant battle to pancreatic cancer the year before. I lost a brother to kidney cancer. I thought I would face “my cancer” alone.” Her ...

#SaludTues Tweetchat: “Breast Cancer: Early Detection Saves Lives”

October 2, 2015

Although Latinas have lower rates of breast cancer, it is still the leading cause of cancer death in Hispanic women. According to the the Susan G. Komen Foundation, only 64% of Latinas have had a mammogram in the last two years compared to 67% White, non-Hispanic and 66% Black, non-Hispanic. Spread awareness about breast cancer by joining our weekly #SaludTues tweetchat WHAT: #SaludTuesTweetchat: “Breast Cancer: Early Detection Saves Lives” DATE: Tuesday, October 06, 2015 TIME: 1-2 p.m. ET (Noon-1 p.m. CT) WHERE: On Twitter with hashtag #SaludTues HOST: @SaludToday CO-HOSTS: FDA en Espanol (FDAenEspanol,) FDA Women (@FDAWomen) Gobierno USA (@GobiernoUSA) USA Gov (@USAGov) #SaludTues is a weekly Tweetchat about Latino health at 12p CST/1p ET every Tuesday and hosted ...

Study: Oral Contraceptives Prevent Uterine Cancer

August 5, 2015

Using oral contraceptives more commonly known as “the pill” protects women from uterine cancer, Time reports. The study, published in the The Lancet Oncology, looked at data “ from 7,276 women with endometrial (uterine) cancer and 115,743 women without it from 36 different studies. They estimate in their findings that 400,000 cases of endometrial cancer have been prevented due to women taking oral contraceptives in the past 50 years, and 200,000 of these prevented cases are from the last 10 years.” According to the study the “protective effect” continues years after stopping the pill. “Women who use it when they are in their 20s or even younger continue to benefit into their 50s and older, when cancer becomes more common," Valerie Beral, a professor at Britain's ...

Study: Age and Fear, Factors for Low Cancer Screening Rates Among Latinas

July 29, 2015

Compared to the general women population in the U.S. the rate of breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings are low among Latinas. In a new study published in the Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives, researchers attribute the low rates among Latinas to age and fear of cancer diagnosis. The research was conducted by analyzing and understanding the characteristics of women who did not follow up with phone calls and participation in Esperanza y Vida, a program aimed at addressing the low rates of breast cancer and cervical cancer screenings among Hispanic women. "Participant loss to follow-up represents a potentially important source of bias in research studies," says Deborah Erwin, PhD, Principal Investigator of the study and Director of the Office of Cancer ...

Latinos bajo riesgo de cáncer en la piel

July 13, 2015

De acuerdo a la Fundación de Cáncer de Piel, los latinos tienen un riesgo más alto de ser diagnosticado con este tipo de cáncer en un estado más avanzado. El tipo de cáncer de piel más severo es conocido como melanoma el cual afecta primordialmente a mujeres entre 25-29 años. Según doctores y expertos en la materia la mayor parte de la población tiene la percepción de que el cáncer en la piel nada más afecta a los adultos. Sin embargo, recientes estudios han demostrado que la incidencia de cáncer entre niños y adolescentes ha aumentado en los últimos años. “Esta percepción errónea de que si eres niño, no hay forma de que padezcas de cáncer en la piel es muy engañosa,” dice el Dr. Adam Friedman. Mientras el cáncer en la piel afecta primordialmente a ...

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Cliff Despres

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