Let’s Talk Cancer Survivorship with Avanzando Caminos

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South Texas is home to one of the largest populations of Hispanic/Latinos in the nation.  

Many people in this region face challenges that jeopardize their health and make them more susceptible to risk factors and diseases, such as cancer.  

These challenges can also hinder cancer care, resulting in worse cancer outcomes. 

That’s why one the Avanzando Caminos Hispanic/Latino Cancer Survivorship study at UT Health San Antonio aims to address some of these issues and find ways to intervene so that survivors can have an improved quality of life. 

The Avanzando Caminos study was recently highlighted in a podcast produced by Salud America! for BioMedSA, a non-profit that advances health in San Antonio. 

For the podcast, Avanzando Caminos program manager and research scientist Dr. Derek Rodriguez sat down with study leader Dr. Amelie Ramirez of UT Health San Antonio and Mays Cancer Center to discuss the study, how it began, and what it entails. 

In the second half of the episode, Dr. Ramirez passed the microphone to breast cancer survivor and study participant Linda Mota to talk survivorship with Dr. Rodriguez, who shared his own story of survivorship.  

Let’s talk cancer survivorship with Avanzando Caminos and go over some stand-out moments in the podcast you may have missed! 

LISTEN!

Cancer Survivorship Study Origins with Dr. Amelie Ramirez 

Cancer survivorship research is more than a calling for Dr. Ramirez; it’s her life’s work.  

For over 20 years, Dr. Ramirez has been on a mission to study the relationship between cancer and people of different backgrounds, especially in regard to the factors that may influence someone’s cancer outcome. 

The interest started with a long-term study focused on cancer prevention, including access to screenings, access to resources such as patient navigation, and other factors’ impact on the cancer journey.  

That particular study and its partners then collaborated to launch the Avanzando Caminos study, which looks to unpack the behavioral, mental, biological, and medical influences on life after cancer. 

“We study on helping our cancer survivors, and it’s to really look at the non-medical drivers of health (NMDoH) that are impacting our Hispanic cancer survivors after they’ve gone through their initial diagnosis and treatment for cancer,” Ramirez explained for the podcast listeners.  

“[Through the study] we can really look at ways to improve their quality of life after receiving their cancer treatment … sometimes people complain that they have a foggy memory, or they can’t quite get back to the activities that they usually were doing prior to their cancer diagnosis and treatment. So, we really want to help them as much as possible.”  

The overarching goal of the study is to use the information gathered to identify strategies and interventions that could help future generations of cancer survivors in South Texas. 

“What we’re finding in our study is that our Latino population is being diagnosed at a later stage, and so therefore they have more advanced cancer that sometimes the treatment are not as effective, so with the data we’ll be collecting for this study, we hope to design not only prevention studies, but also additional survivorship studies to address their needs,” Ramirez said. 

listen!

A Sit Down with Two Cancer Survivors 

Dr. Derek Rodriguez was diagnosed with cancer at age 8 and the experience had a profound impact on his life, eventually leading him to a career in cancer research.  

Through his work with the Avanzando Caminos study, he’s been able to share and interrelate his experiences with those of his patients, including Linda Mota, who happens to be a research scientist at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). 

Linda, a survivor of breast cancer, had no predisposition for breast cancer when she woke up suddenly with a lump in her breast. 

Dr. Rodriguez shared a similar experience in his cancer journey. 

“I’m also a survivor and I woke up and I said, ‘what is this?’ And I was 8 years old at the time, and so I told my mom, and she was like, ‘this doesn’t look normal.’ And so, we went and got checked. Long hours of hospitals, ER, visits, no one knows what’s going on until they finally diagnosed you,” Dr. Rodriguez recalled.

Linda went through a 2-year long journey, which included chemotherapy. While it was hard for her to manage it was more difficult on her young son.  

“It was very scary, because my son, he was used to seeing me with full of energy, and then he saw his mom every day on the couch. Just really, really hired in a lot of pain. So, it is a very painful journey, very scary,” she said.  

Eventually, Linda defeated cancer and went on to promote cancer awareness. 

Part of her commitment was lending her voice to the Avanzando Caminos study.  

“My biggest drive to be participating in this study is to help either as a story that I was able to survive, and this is how I was able to survive, but also making sure that at least my research brain, it’s asking I need data points, so making sure that I am quantified and that I am a statistic, and part of it is because it’s important to [be counted] and bring a [complete] set of data to research,” she said. 

“It’s very important to participate in studies because you want to make sure that you’re paving the way for the other people that are coming behind you, you have to make sure that you’re creating opportunities for everybody.” 

listen!

Share Your Cancer Story with Avanzando Caminos 

The Avanzando Caminos study team is looking to recruit1,500 Latino survivors in South Texas. 

To be eligible to participate, you must identify as Hispanic or Latino, be 18 years or older, and have completed primary treatment for breast, colon, kidney, liver, lung, prostate, stomach or cervical cancer.  

Volunteers will participate in seven study visits over five years, each with assessment interviews, and some with blood draws.  

To volunteer for Avanzando Caminos or ask questions, contact a member of the study team at the Institute for Health Promotion Research at UT Health San Antonio at 210-562-6514 or caminos@uthscsa.edu.  

Volunteers are eligible for $50 per visit!  

Those who are interested in finding out more information about the study can visit the study’s website in (English) or (Spanish). There they will find a short online survey they can fill out and a member of the study team will be in touch with them soon! 

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