Nearly half of Hispanic women in a new study who spoke little English expressed much worry about their beast cancers returning, and white and black women expressed far less concern, WedMD reports. Many survivors worry about recurrence, possibly due to communication difficulties, even though the odds of survival for a woman treated for early-stage breast cancer are good. Worry can affect decisions about treatment, screening, symptom reporting and overall quality of life. “Women who had a very optimistic prognosis, based on their cancer stage and node involvement, were often the ones who worried the most,” study leader Dr. Nancy K. Janz, of the University of Michigan, told WebMD. The study is published in the April 1 issue of the journal ...
An FDA panel recently released a report that menthol cigarettes are harmful and that their removal "from the marketplace would benefit public health in the United States," the Los Angeles Times reports. Menthol is the flavoring used in about 30% of U.S. cigarettes. The National Latino Tobacco Control Network (NLTCN) welcomes this recommendation to the FDA and urges the FDA to ban the use of menthol in cigarettes and other tobacco products. By withdrawing this product from the market, the FDA would be protecting the lives of people of color, NLTCN argues. More than 82% of the African American smokers use mentholated cigarettes, as well as 45% of Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, 35% of multiracial populations, 37% Latino women, and 32% of Asian Americans. "For our ...
The LIVESTRONG Cancer Navigation Center recently opened in Austin, Texas, to help cancer survivors navigate an often complex health system and organize their paperwork, records, and even their emotions. The new center, located at 2201 E. Sixth Street and open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. CST, provides a range of free services for anyone affected by cancer. This includes people diagnosed with cancer, their families, friends, loved ones and the health care professionals who work with them. The center helps people with any cancer type and at any stage of treatment. Assistance is available in both English and Spanish. Watch a clip here or below of the center's senior manager of navigation, Melissa Sileo, about why patient navigation is important and how it can help people with cancer focus on ...
Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, is among the cancer research leaders, survivors, advocates and donors featured on the cover of the new edition of the LIVESTRONG Quarterly magazine. Ramirez, a LIVESTRONG board member, and others share their inside stories of what it means to join up and feel the power of local, national, and global connection for cancer survivorship. About Dr. Ramirez, from the magazine:
When it comes to cancer prevention and message integration, you could call Dr. Ramirez an ambassador of equality.
A member of the LIVESTRONG board of directors and director of outreach and health care disparities at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center in San Antonio, Texas, Ramirez also ...
Dr. Isabel Scarinci, a cancer prevention expert at the University of Alabama-Birmingham, spoke about ways to improve cervical cancer prevention on March 17, 2011, at the Cancer Therapy and Research Center (CTRC) in San Antonio as part of the SALSI/CTRC Health Disparities Lecture Series. Scarinci's talk highlighted her innovative work in cervical cancer prevention among low-income, Latina and African American, and immigrant women. Watch video of her talk here. The SALSI/CTRC Health Disparities Lecture Series, sponsored by the San Antonio Life Sciences Institute (SALSI) and the CTRC, brings some of the top U.S. health disparities experts to San Antonio to offer the latest trends, tools and advancements in the fight against cancer health disparities. The series is a joint project of the ...
The number of U.S. cancer survivors increased from 3 million in 1971 to 11.7 million in 2007, according to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Cancer Institute. There were 3 million cancer survivors in 1971 and 9.8 million in 2001. A cancer survivor is defined as anyone who has been diagnosed with cancer, from the time of diagnosis through the balance of his or her life. Many people with cancer live a long time after diagnosis; more than a million people were alive in 2007 after being diagnosed with cancer 25 years or more earlier. Of the 11.7 million people living with cancer in 2007: 7 million were 65 years of age or older.
6.3 million were women.
4.7 million were diagnosed 10 years earlier or more. The largest groups of cancer ...
Spanish-speakers are encouraged to call the National Cancer Institute's Cancer Information Service, 1-800-4-CANCER, to get free scientifically based information on cancer clinical trials, prevention, risk factors and more in their language. In a new video, Aileen Ardizon, Director of Bilingual Services for the Cancer Information Service, explains how the number works and what type of servces are offered. NCI cancer information is offered in English and Spanish online, ...
A new study of cancer survival among Hispanics found important variations by Hispanic subgroup. The study, published in the journal Cancer Causes Control, indicates that, for cancers of moderate outcome, the adjusted risk of death was higher among all Hispanic populations in comparison with non-Hispanic Whites: 6% higher for Cubans, 11% for Puerto Ricans, and 13% for U.S.-born Mexicans. Foreign-born Mexicans, even with incomplete follow-up, had a 24% higher risk of death. No evidence of a Hispanic advantage was found in cancer survival. The researchers, who studied all 1.2 million cancer cases diagnosed during 1995-2003 in Florida and Texas, suggest improvements are needed in mortality follow-up procedures for Latinos, especially for those without a valid social security number. "By ...
Rates of liver cancer in U.S.-born Hispanic men in California have increased by 87%, according to scientists at the Cancer Prevention Institute of California (CPIC), who looked at a recent 16-year span of statewide cancer registry data, Hispanically Speaking News reports. These men are at a significantly higher risk of liver cancer than California Hispanic men born outside of the U.S. Liver cancer risk is also higher among both Hispanic males and females in more ethnically isolated and lower income areas of the state. The results of this study, which is the first to examine liver cancer rates by neighborhood acculturation level and socioeconomic status, were recently published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention. “California Health Interview Survey data show ...
