Catherine Stewart is a digital content curator for Salud America! and its home base, the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. She is a graduate of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland College Park, and hopes to utilize her skills to help people find their voices and inspire change in their communities.
When Sandi Stanford was diagnosed with breast cancer in 1993, everything was vastly different from how we view, treat, measure, and research the disease today.
Much of that has to do with innovations in medicine, science, and technology.
However, there were far more powerful players steering the ship — survivors.
This new breed of survivors weren’t standing on the sidelines; they were educating themselves, inserting themselves in research, and having conversations that would benefit future generations of survivors.
They called themselves cancer patient advocates.
One such advocate, Sandi Stanford of San Antonio, Texas, helped pioneer programs and initiatives that transformed a cancer diagnosis into action.
Unfortunately, Sandi passed away on Aug. 29, 2026, at age 82.
While the ...
Breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer-related death in U.S. women and the leading cause of cancer-related death in Latina women. Despite advancements in preventative care and early detection, Latinas and all women continue to be diagnosed at later stages when treatment is more taxing and outcomes aren’t as optimistic. This situation is a result of issues with non-medical drivers of health, such as low access to health insurance, preventive screenings, transportation, healthy food, and more. More resources, better education, and research can help make a difference! It’s National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and whether you’re a survivor, currently in treatment, health professional, caregiver, family member, or at risk for breast cancer, here are ...
Los latinos enfrentan una carga alta de cáncer. Debido a barreras relacionadas con el idioma, los recursos económicos, el transporte y otros factores, los latinos con frecuencia reciben un diagnóstico de cáncer en etapas avanzadas, cuando las probabilidades de sobrevivir son menores y los costos del tratamiento son más altos. Para abordar el impacto del cáncer en los latinos y brindar esperanza, Salud America! creó la campaña “Nuestras Voces”, una iniciativa que ofrece a los sobrevivientes latinos de cáncer una plataforma para compartir sus historias y experiencias. Como parte de esta campaña, los sobrevivientes de cáncer latinos pueden escribir y enviar sus propias historias para que sean publicadas en nuestro sitio web, en inglés o español. “Cuando ...
A lot of the time a cancer survivor’s story goes: “I felt a lump in my breast, I got it checked out, and it was breast cancer.”
That’s not the story of Deb Blake-Ontiveros.
The single mother visited a doctor after she felt a lump in her breast. But her doctor dismissed it as something else.
Two years passed before Deb was diagnosed with breast cancer.
“If we go back in time ... and I would have been maybe a little bit less distracted with the baby and more like, ‘Hey, I think I would like further screening’ that could have been the change there. But that's the reality, though,” Deb told Salud America!
That reality is that some women with breast cancer, especially young Latinas whose symptoms often go ignored or misdiagnosed, never get to ring the bell.
For Deb, ...
Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in Latinas. Despite advances in prevention and treatment, Latina breast cancer continues to be detected at advanced stages when the prognosis isn’t optimistic. There are several contributing factors to why Latinas face worse outcomes when it comes to breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and to honor all who have been impacted by the disease, we are discussing the top eight things to know about Latina breast cancer.
1. Latina Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among Latinas, impacting U.S. Latinas at a rate of 106.6 per 100,000 people, according to the American Cancer Society’s 2026 Cancer Facts & Figures report. This equates to roughly 1 out ...
As of 2025, Latinos make up 20% of the U.S. population. In some areas, like California, Latinos comprise 40% of the population and are expected to rise to 50% by 2050, according to the National Latino Physician Day website. Many of these populations encounter hurdles to healthcare, including language, access, and more, leading to worse health outcomes. One way to address this is by increasing the number of Latino physicians, who only make up 6% of the physician workforce. As the nation continues to experience a shortage of health care workers, how do we increase the number of Latino physicians? That’s something National Latino Physician Day on Oct. 1, 2026, is striving to bring awareness to every year.
How Did National Latino Physician Day ...
Latinos face a heavy cancer burden. Driven by issues with language, finances, transportation, and more, Latinos are often diagnosed with cancer when survival chances are lower and costs higher. To address Latino cancer and inspire hope, Salud America! created the “Nuestras Voces” campaign to give Latino cancer survivors a platform to share their stories. As part of the campaign, Latino cancer survivors can write and submit their own stories to publish on our website in English or Spanish. “When Latino cancer survivors tell their stories, they can help future cancer survivors who go through what they went through,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, leader of Salud America! and the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio. “Sharing can ...
by Arnoldo Rodriguez Para la mayoría de las personas, septiembre es simplemente la frontera entre el verano y el otoño. Pero para quienes hemos sido tocados por el cáncer, es un mes de gran peso. Para mí, ese peso se duplica. Septiembre es a la vez el Mes de Concientización sobre el Cáncer de Próstata y el Mes de Concientización sobre el Cáncer de la Sangre. Como sobreviviente tanto de cáncer de próstata como de linfoma folicular, este mes siempre llega con una compleja mezcla de emociones. Actúa como un doble espejo, obligándome a mirar atrás hacia las luchas distintas y agotadoras de dos diagnósticos completamente diferentes. Reaviva los fantasmas de ansiedades pasadas, el frío clínico de las salas de tratamiento y la profunda vulnerabilidad de ser paciente. Ese ...
by Arnoldo Rodriguez For most people, September is simply the boundary between summer and autumn. But for those of us whose lives have been touched by cancer, it is a month of heavy significance. For me, that weight is doubled. September is both Prostate Cancer Awareness Month and Blood Cancer Awareness Month. As a survivor of both prostate cancer and follicular lymphoma, this month always arrives with a complex rush of emotions. It acts as a double mirror, forcing me to look back at the distinct, grueling struggles of two entirely different diagnoses. It reawakens the ghosts of past anxieties, the clinical chill of treatment rooms, and the profound vulnerability of being a patient. That is the bitter side of September—the visceral reminder of what was endured. If you are ...
