Cancer in Minority
Communities MCH Programs Support
Cultural
Competency I'mmigrant Health Training,
PHS Region
II Minority Health
Perspective The Effect of Culture on
Diet and
Weight Seven CBOs Participate in
Ohio Screening
Project Resources at the American
Cancer
Society AHCPR Offers Guidelines on
Managing Cancer
Pain Health Program Require
Cultural
Consideration Intercultural Cancer
Council
Calls for
Joining Forces Promoting Health
Care African American Men
Suffer
High Rates of
Prostate Cancer National Action Plan on
Breast
Cancer Stages of Breast
Cancer Breast cancer in African
Americans Funding Alert Publications Available
from
CDC Resources: Cancer
Information Cancer Surveillance
Charged with motivating low-income Hispanic women to participate in breast and cervical screening, Jurich and the clinics medical team seize any chance they can to visit community meeting spots. They transport a mobile mammography van and a truck filled with exam tables, screens, and medical supplies. "Not only do women learn that we think enough of them to come to their door," Jurich said. "Were also showing them that cancer screening is important and that we understand the obstacles they face."
To reach older women, outreach workers set up rooms in Sunday schools where up to 60 women are screened during one time period. These personal strategies carry a lot of weight since many of the women Jurich targets have never experienced a pelvic exam, let alone been warned about the possibility of cancer. Encouraging women to tread into unfamiliar territory can be a challenge, Jurich admits, but it helps that her staff members are of the same ethnicity and socioeconomic background as the patients. Its something that lends a dimension of credibility to the clinics mission. "When women see that our workers shop, pray, and live in the same places they do, they identify with us."
Currently, only people with documented immigration status are eligible for full-scope Medi-Cal, which covers a wide range of preventive and health care services. Persons without documented immigration status are eligible only for a restricted Medi-Cal program, encompassing federally mandated emergency services and pre-natal and long-term care services. This allocation existed before Proposition 187 and still stands today. But since undocumented immigrants may receive only limited services under Medi-Cal, Jurich said, "some women are having to wait until cancer has spread before they can have breast surgery." So while it is true that the full range of treatment is available to U.S. citizens enrolled in Medi-Cal, the prospects for undocumented immigrants with caner remain grim. The San Diego Latina Cancer Coalition has been able to recruit physicians who are willing to perform surgical procedures pro bono. But the challenge ahead will be continuing to establish such sources of treatment, while enacting policy changes that improve access to care. For more information about La MAESTRA, call 619-584-1612.
As a maternal and child health (MCH) care consultant for the Public Health Service (PHS), Region II (New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands), Dr. Lee has served as a federal resource person for Asian organizations. Currently responsible for programs on both maternal/child health and family planning, Dr. Lee helps agencies identify appropriate health care practices for underserved populations.
She cites stomach, esophageal, and liver cancers as more prevalent in the Asian and Pacific Islander communities. A major reason why rates of liver cancer are so much higher among Asians and Pacific Islanders is because these populations have a high prevalence of chronic carriers of Hepatitis B. "Studies have shown that there is a strong correlation between this virus and hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer)," according to Winston Wong, M.D., a PHS clinical coordinator for Region IX (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, American Samoa, Guam, and the Pacific jurisdictions.)
Both Drs. Lee and Wong assert that treating cancer in members of any ethnic or racial group requires cultural sensitivity. For example, its important to recognize, said Dr. Wong, that it may be problematic to have a Caucasian, western-trained male doctor treating an older Vietnamese woman with cancer, simply because of the potential for cultural misunderstandings.
Most western doctors don't know about Asian perceptions of death and dying. "Ive had a lot of patients," he said, "whose family members ask me not to tell he patient that he or she has cancer." This is because the patient views cancer as a terminal disease, he explains, and will probably be unwilling to receive treatment. The proper way to handle such a request is to inform patients of the truth, and work with the entire family on the cultural implications of making a diagnosis. "Asian patients see their health as part of the health of a whole family."
Another point health providers need to be more aware of is that even after coming to this country, many people continue to use herbal and other traditional medicines, said Dr. Lee. Since some patients are reluctant to reveal cultural practices, the result can be a dangerous mixing of drugs that may have adverse effects on the patient, she added.
Clinics should also consider that health promotion and disease prevention don't normally rank high in the eyes of immigrants. "They are struggling with housing, education, and job issues, not to mention lack of health insurance," Lee said.
The encouraging side is that PHS supports the training of health providers to acknowledge these issues. The consensus seems to be that leaving cultural competency out of health care will only send minorities a step backward.
Through cultural competency training, health providers learn valuable information such as how to recognize genetic factors associated with ethnic groups or how to broach cultural issues during a medical exam.
The Office of Minority Health (OMH) urges you to support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month during October and the Great American Smokeout on November 17. Sponsored by the American Cancer Society (ACS), these events provide excellent opportunities to advance the message of the importance of cancer prevention and treatment.
During Breast Cancer Awareness Month, ACS will target women who are older, African American, Spanish-speaking, and those in rural areas through its Tell A Friend program. This program encourages women to inform others about the benefits of early detection. For the Great American Smokeot, ACS will use the theme Youre Too Smart to Start in an effort to reach adolescents.
Due in part to collaborative efforts between OMH and other government agencies, health providers, and health organizations, there has been significant progress in the use of screening as a means of reducing mortality associated with breast and cervical cancer. Culturally appropriate interventions have played a major role in increasing access to screening. More African American and Hispanic women are being screened now than ever before. As a result, there have been improvements in early detection, diagnosis, and treatment.
I know that our readers are an integral part of these improvements, and I salute your efforts to carry out successful cancer education and screening programs. It is critical for all of us who work on behalf of disadvantaged and disenfranchised communities to continue to work together.
We must work together to empower everyone to take responsibility for their health. It is our job to provide minorities with accurate, up-to-date, and culturally sensitive information about the risk of cancer and treatment options. We must empower people to adopt healthy lifestyles and practices, such as breast self-examinations. Moreover, we must empower our people to become active participants in making decisions that affect health.
For more information on National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and the Great American Smokeout, call ACS at 1-800-ACS-2345. To request articles or a database search on information related to cancer, call the OMH Resource Center at 1-800-444-6472.
There were two CBOs targeting Asians, two targeting African Americans, two targeting Hispanics, and one targeting Native Americans. "A big plus," said Ms. Boyce, "was that we got to involve small CBOs who may have never had an opportunity to participate in a federal project." State agencies combined their strengths, she added, and underserved women gained access to care. For more information, call the Ohio Commission on Minority Health, 614-466-4000.
The organization provides information and assistance on all topics or concerns related to cancer. Through state and local chapters, ACS offers information, publications, and community and school programs focusing on detection, treatment, and control of cancer.
A guiding philosophy of the organization is that cancer control in any population can be accomplished best by individuals in that population. To implement community-based efforts, ACS looks to its local volunteers.
The best place to begin if youre interested in joining ACS in its mission is with your local Unit office, which is listed in the phone book. Here are some of the national ACS resources and contact persons:
These guidelines were systematically developed in consultation with expert panels to help practitioners and patients decide on appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances.
Minorities are typically diagnosed with cancer when the disease is advanced, making treatment options limited and pain unbearable. Researchers have even found that minority patients who suffer pain as a result of cancer are generally three times more likely to receive inadequate pain treatment than non-minorities.
In approximately 90 percent of cancer patients, pain can be controlled by relatively simple means, according to the guidelines. An aggressive approach is recommended because unrelieved pain affects a patients ability to cope physically and psychologically with the disease.
AHCPR guidelines cover strategies for managing pain in various types of people, including children, elderly people, HIV/AIDS patients, and substance abusers.
For single, free copies of Clinical Practice Guidelines, Management of Cancer Pain: A Quick Reference Guide for Clinicians, write to "Cancer Pain Guidelines", AHCPR Publications Clearinghouse, PO Box 8547, Silver Spring, MD 20907.
In an article published in the Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, the North Carolina Native American Cervical Cancer Prevention Project is described as a project that responded to cultural issues throughout its development. With funding from the National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, the project was launched to prevent cervical cancer among Cherokee and Lumbee tribes in North Carolina.
When possible, implementing culturally sensitive messages right from the start is preferable to making adaptations along the way. "Little progress can be made if cancer control or other health education programs are introduced into an American Indian community without first attempting to understand and appreciate the culture...," the researchers state.
Using committees of community health representatives (CHRs) and focus groups to test the waters are some effective tools, says Nancy Hane, RNC, MS, a cancer survivor and volunteer with the American Cancer Society (ACS). Ms. Hane has helped implement Circle of Life, a breast cancer education program for Native Americans/Alaska Natives that began in the ACS Oklahoma Division in 1991 and has expanded into a national program. The title, Circle of Life, stands for the idea that all women should be able to complete the full circle of their lives.
The culturally relevant program trains Native American women and health care providers to teach about the importance of mammography and clinical and self breast exams. ACS Oklahoma Division zeroed in on Native Americans, Hane said, because the population has a much lower survival rate five years after a cancer diagnosis than white women and because Oklahoma has the largest Native American population in the United States.
ACS worked with state health departments, the Indian Health Service (IHS), and various tribes to develop the three-hour training session, which makes use of a flip chart, pamphlet, training guide, and video. A committee of CHRs, IHS nurses, and volunteers evaluated each component of the program. "Since younger women really listen to older women in the Native American community," Hane said, "committee members wanted an older woman to do the narration for the video." ACS also found that people wanted to see a woman demonstrate the breast self-exam in a modest way, so her face is never show. The beginning of the video was well-received because it shows the many avenues of a Native American womans life--dancing at a pow wow, running, working, and caring for her child.
In 1993, Hane presented the Circle of Life program at regional meetings in Montana and Minnesota to give CHRs an opportunity to critique it, and so that she could compare feedback from different states. "We found that we had to change the wording in our literature to accommodate different reading levels," she said. And both groups wanted to learn more about the artwork for the program, so that information was added to the training manual.
Native American artist Dana Tiger volunteered to design the Circle of Life logo, which depicts a Native American woman under the moon, with one hand across her breast and the other holding a staff. "My vision," said Ms. Tiger, "was to show an Indian woman as she has always been--with determination and extreme courage to take charge of whatever situation arises."
For more information about the Circle of Life program, call the ACS Oklahoma Office at 405-843-9888.
Given the way cancer is wiping out populations, minorities evidently have more common problems than they do differences, Dr. Jones said at a meeting held in April at the Office of Minority Health (OMH) in Rockville, Maryland. Dr. Jones, professor and director of experimental gynecology/endocrinology at University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, is one of OMHs external consultants who helps keep the office informed of new developments in minority health.
Undoubtedly, cancer statistics are right in sync with Dr. Jones view. African Americans have the highest cancer rates overall. Hispanic women are nearly twice as likely as white women to develop cervical cancer. Chinese Americans are more likely than any other group to develop liver cancer and die from it. Native American cancer patients are the least likely to survive five years after a cancer diagnosis, and the list goes on.
Such commonalities, he said, have made it imperative that minority groups exercise power in numbers. The new Intercultural Cancer Council (ICC), representing a formal joining of minority forces, kicked off in April at the 5th Biennial Symposium on Minorities, the Medically Underserved & Cancer, held in Arlington, Virginia.
Dr. Jones, who served as co-chairman of the conference, is founding chairman of the ICC. "Though the ICC will stand for many minority groups in one culturally diverse country," he said. "we will speak with one voice in Washington." The council will help prevent individual groups from getting caught up in "competing for a small piece of the pie."
The main mission of the ICC is to promote public policy changes around cancer and minorities. The council calls for the opposition of congressional plans for block grant approaches that would remove federal support for cancer programs; improvements in national epidemiological studies of cancer among minorities; and strnger controls on tobacco, including cigarette tax increases.
The list of ICC members is long, and includes Howard University Hospital, the Association of Asian Pacific Community Health Organizations, the American Cancer Society, the Kellogg Company, and the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship.
"If we don't begin to operate as a unified front," Dr. Jones said, "we will continue to face cancer in disproportionate numbers."
For more information about the Intercultural Cancer Council, contact Pamela M. Jackson, 713-798-4617.
Dr. Huerta, cancer prevention specialist at the Washington Cancer Institute, Washington Hospital Center, has talked about cancer prevention for five years on a radio show run by WILC AM, a Spanish-language station in Washington, DC. Approximately 200,000 listeners tune in to the five-minute show, which airs three times a day.
Dr. Huerta has used the radio program as the sole vehicle to promote a cancer screening clinic that he started at Washington Hospital Center in 1994. The clinic initially opened on a schedule of two days a week. Now, Dr. Huerta has bumped it up to three days because of demand. "We have seen more than 800 patients in ten months, and theres a waiting list because so many people want to get in." About 95 percent of his patients are Hispanic.
A visit to Dr. Huertas clinic costs $35. This flat rate gets you approximately 45 minutes with him--time that he spends performing a complete physical exam, conducting any necessary cancer screening tests, recording medical history, and discussing risk factors for cancer.
"I have seen a lot of fatalistic attitudes among my patients," he said. "Some feel that since God has set up destiny, theres no point in intervening." But Dr. Huerta shows them how behavior can have a significant impact on health, and that behavior is always changeable.
The Washington Cancer Institute is a member of the newly formed Intercultural Cancer Council, and Dr. Huerta expects that the group will give politicians a push and trigger significant improvements in minority health. "Minorities are suffering a cancer burden that must be recognized."
The fact that most men rarely think about the prostate is troublesome considering that prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer among men in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In 1995, an estimated 244,000 new cases of the disease will be diagnosed and approximately 40,400 men will die, despite advances in surgical and medical therapy. Prostate cancer often occurs at a later age when other medical conditions such as heart disease and stroke may contribute to the cause of death, so it is unclear how many men are dying with prostate cancer rather than from it.
What is crystal clear, however, is that African American men have the highest incidence of prostate cancer of all racial and ethnic groups in the United States. And the rate at which they die from the disease is almost three times higher than whites.
The Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG) is a national cancer research organization made up of more than 200 medical facilities across the country, as well as Canada. Administered by the American College of Radiology and funded by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), RTOG conducted a recent round of studies on prostate cancer.
Researchers found that African American men with the disease live as long as their white counterparts when they receive the same treatment. But unfortunately, African American men are not receiving comparable treatment, according to Mack Roach, M.D., assistant professor of radiation oncology and medical oncology at the University of California, San Francisco. The universitys medical center is a member of RTOG.
African American men are being treated when the disease is more advanced, a difference probably due to whites greater awareness about cancer and greater access to health care, explained Dr. Roach.
"When you look at surveys on cancer," he said, "you find that a larger percentage of African Americans don't have health insurance. And when you don't have health insurance, you tend to get a very different quality of health care."
The high rate of prostate cancer and mortality among African Americans has been seen only in the last few decades, according to NCI, suggesting that it may be caused by diet or environmental factors.
Dr. Roach agrees, noting that Blacks in Africa don't have prostate cancer rates as high as Blacks in this country. There are many cases where cancer incidence among members of a population increases when they come to the United States, he said, supporting the idea that lifestyle factors may loom larger than biological ones.
In 1993, Congress authorized CDC to develop state-based demonstration projects for prostate cancer, working in tandem with existing cancer control efforts in state health departments. Currently established in Central Harlem in New York, rural northwest Lousiana, Massachusetts, and Missouri, these demonstration projects are assessing attitudes, beliefs, and practices about prostate risk and screening, particularly among African American men, ags 50 to 75.
Results of a similar study on attitudes, conducted by the Fox Chase Cancer Center and the University of Chicago and funded through NIH, showed that health education messages facilitated prostate screening among African Americans when those messages described the screening as convenient, effective, and easy, and when they stated that African American men are at increased risk in comparison with whites.
Since a mans chances of having prostate cancer increases with age, with most cases occurring after 60, the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) recently produced a series of public service announcements on the subject in cooperation with NCI. Veteran actor Ossie Davis urges African American men to learn more about the "silent killer stalking their lives," a crucial point since there are no early signs of the disease.
AARP has also published Staying Strong, For Men Over Fifty. The health guide discusses symptoms, risk factors and treatment options for several diseases, including prostate cancer, colorectal cancer and lung cancer.
For a free, single copy of the AARP guide, contact: AARP Fulfillment (EE0870), 601 E St., NW, Washington, DC 20049. Also available is Chances Are...You Need a Mammogram.
For more information on the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group, write to Keri Sperry, 1891 Preston White Drive, Reston, Virginia 22091.
The Prostate Health Council offers a series of patient education booklets, including Prostate Cancer: What Every Man Over 40 Should Know.
For free, single copies, write the Prostate Health Council, c/o the American Foundation for Urologic Disease, 300 West Pratt St. Suite 401, Baltimore, MD 21201.
That petition was formally presented to President Clinton in October 1993, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) was asked to respond. That following December, HHS Secretary Donna Shalala convened advocates, consumers, scientists, and members of Congress for the Secretarys Conference to Establish the National Action Plan on Breast Cancer (NAPBC).
What resulted was a public/private partnership that aims to build and strengthen knowledge, resources, and commitment to the goals of preventing, detecting, diagnosing, treating, and ultimately eliminating breast cancer.
The Public Health Services (PHS) Office on Womens Health (OWH) is at the helm of efforts to implement NAPBC, which includes coordinating activities with other agencies and administering grant programs.
Six working groups have been established to address the priority areas of the NAPBC: clinical trials, etiology, consumer involvement, information access, biological resources banks, and genetic testing.
Minorities are important to all of these areas since OWH will work on increasing minority participation in research trials and identifying new strategies to educate minority groups about breast cancer.
"Between 1989 and 1992, there was a decrease in mortality rates of more than five percent for white women with breast cancer, but approximately a three percent increase for African American women," according to Susan Blumenthal, M.D., Deputy Assistant Secretary for Womens Health and Director of OWH. "That may be atributable to the fact that African Americans don't have the same access to early detection," she added.
The Fiscal Year 1995 budget to fund activities related to NAPBC is up to $10 million. These funds were provided as part of the National Cancer Institute appropriation.
There is a small grant initiative to support new, innovative pilot projects, the supplementation of ongoing federal grant-supported activities, and small contracts for workshops, surveys, and reports. Projects, regardless of how they are funded, will address one or more of the six priority areas. The most recent deadline for proposals was in June, and final recommendations for FY95 funding will be made before September 30, 1995.
For more information on NAPBC, contact the Office on Womens Health, Hubert H. Humphrey Building, Rm. 303-B, 200 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, DC 20201, 202-401-9587.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).CDC implements the National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program which enables states, territories, and tribal organizations to build a public health infrastructure to increase access to screening and follow-up services, particularly for women of low income, racial and ethnic minorities, and older women. The program helps improve quality assurance measures for mammography and cervical cytology and increase education programs for women and health care providers.
Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA issued regulations to implement the Mammography Quality Standards Act of 1992, which is intended to ensure safe, accurate, and reliable mammography on a nationwide basis. The act requires the establishment of a federal certification program for mammography facilities; regulations and standards for accrediting mammography facilities; and standards for mammography equipment, personnel, and practices.
National Institutes of Health (NIH). The National Cancer Institute (NCI) of NIH supports research on the role of genetics, environment, and hormones in the development of breast cancer; the implementation of primary prevention and treatment clinical trials; the accessibility and delivery of appropriate medical care to medically underserved women. Also under investigation at the agency is the role of environmental factors and diet in the development of cancer.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMMS). CMMS's Medicare Program supports mammography through reimbursement for screening and diagnostic mammograms, and has developed an educational campaign for older women to promote the use of this screening benefit. In addition, CMMS is collaborating with NCI to develop a database that links Medicare data with tumor registry data in order to evaluate the costs of cancer care and accessing cancer prevention and treatment services.
Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). HRSA administers the Maternal and Child Health Services Block Grant to the States, through which screening for breast cancer is included as part of the delivery of health services to women.
Indian Health Service (IHS). The IHS collaborates with CDCs National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program to bring mammography services to American Indian and Alaska Native women. Mobile mammography units are used to bring services to women living in remote reservation sites. IHS has also establshed the Alaska Native Cancer Surveillance Project, a comprensive cancer registry for all American Indians/Alaska Natives.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). SAMHSA provides mental health services to women with breast cancer and explores the role of social support in prevention and treatment of the disease. The agency also provides information about the possible role of alcohol consumption as a risk factor for breast cancer.
For phone numbers and addresses of the PHS agencies listed above, call the Office of Minority Health Resource Center at 1-800-444-6472.
Stage II: Breast tumor of any size up to five centimeters, minimal skin involvement, no muscle or chest wall attachment. One or more nodes palpable in the axilla (underarm). No distant metastasis.
Stage III: Breast tumor over five centimeters. One or more nodes palpable in the axilla plus one or more of the following: skin ulceration, skin edema, pectoral muscle attachment, nodes fixed in the axilla.
Stage IV: Spread of cancer beyond the axilla (distant metastasis to bone, lung, brain, liver, etc.)
Source: Breast Cancer/Black Woman
Moreover, studies have shown that in comparison with white women being treated at Stage I and Stage II, African American women have worse outcomes, though they are being treated at the same stages.
In response to these staggering discrepancies, Edwin T. Johnson, M.D., wrote a book called Breast Cancer/Black Woman, A Primer to Help the African American Woman Survive Breast Cancer.
"I reviewed the medical literature, and sought the opinion of leading authorities and colleagues," writes Dr. Johnson. "I talked to nurses and therapists. I interviewed cancer patients and their families; and pondered my own personal surgical experience in treating breast cancer, which was occasionally rewarding, but too often too late and tragic."
Dr. Johnson, a board certified general surgeon and specialist in breast diseases, is director of the Montgomery Urgent Care and Diagnostic Center in Montgomery, Alabama.
"Too many black women are lost to breast cancer because so many are unaware of the danger signals and too few are being checked on a regular basis," he states.
Dr. Johnson presents some of the barriers women are up against through case examples that are based on factual interviews with breast cancer patients. One woman says she found a lump in her breast, but forgot about it until she noticed how much it had grown six months later. Even then, she didnt tell her doctor because she hoped it would go away. By the time she did tell, a year had passed. She later underwent surgery to have her breast removed, and reveals that her health care providers never presented her with other treatment options. "I never thought to question anything," she says.
Another woman tells the story of how the receptionist asked about problems with her breasts "right out in front of everyone in the waiting room." When told she had to tell the receptionist before speaking with the doctor, she felt so embarrassed that she left and never returned. She ended up having a radical mastectomy.
Along with exploring the patient point of view, the book describes how a diagnosis is made, explains risk factors, presents treatment options, and offers advice for seeking emotional support.
For information on how to obtain Breast Cancer/Black Woman, call the OMH Resource Center at 1-800-444-6472.
Cancer Risk Reduction for High Risk Youths Grant. This grant funds the generation, survey, and dissemination of effective cancer risk-reduction procedures and materials for high-risk youths. Sites may include community health centers, schools, and community youth organizations. Research may target poor diet and alcohol and tobacco use among youths. Next deadlines: Oct. 1 and Feb. 1. Contact: Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, EPN., Room 232, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-496-8584.
Minority Enhancement Award. The purpose of this award is to expand minority involvement in cancer control research. Applications are accepted from institutions capable of accessing large minority populations on a regular basis. General research objectives include, but are not limited to, smoking behavior in minority youths; studies of communication strategies for presenting information to minorities about cancer prevention; investigations of patient perspectives of cancer risks; the design and evaluation of interventions to minimize and prevent distress of minority patients with cancer; the development of pilot studies for minority clinical prevention trials; and psychosocial studies and perception of cancer risks in minorities. Contact: NCI, Division of Extramural Activities, EPN, Room 620, Bethesda, MD 20892, 301-496-7344.
Minority Health Professional Training Initiative. This initiative aims to address the low numbers of minority clinicians, clinical researchers, and other health professionals engaged in research in oncology or with training in subspecialties related to cancer.
Minority investigators, defined as U.S. citizens who are African American,Hispanic/Latino, Asian American, Native American, or Pacific Islander. Contact: NCI, Division of Extramural Activities, EPN, Room 620, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, 301-496-7344.
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation provides grants for a range of programs, including those that support cancer research related to treatment. Genera operating support, program development funds are available. Giving is limited to New York, NY. Next deadlines: Sept. 15 and Dec. 15. Contact: The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation at 630 Fifth Ave., Suite 2255, New York, NY 10111-0002, 212-315-2940.
The Oncology Nursing Foundation offers Ethnic Minority Bachelors Scholarships to provide financial assistance to ethnic minorities undergraduate studies in nursing. Candidates must have a demonstrated interest and commitment to cancer nursing, be a registered nurse, be enrolled in an undergraduate nursing degree program, must have a current license to practice as a registered nurse, and be a member of an ethnic group. Next Deadline: Feb. 1. Contact: Oncology Nursing Foundation, Scholarship review Committee, 501 Holiday Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15220-2749, 412-921-7373.
National Cancer Institute, Cancer Information Service. 1-800-4-CANCER. Toll-free system of cancer resources.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Public Inquiries. 1600 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, 404-639-3286. Publications: 404-639-3534.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Office on Smoking and Health, MS K-50, 4770 Buford Highway, NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30341, Technical Info. Center: 404-488-5708; Publications: 404-488-5707.
Food and Nutrition Information Center, National Agricultural Library, Room 304, 10301 Baltimore Boulevard, Beltsville, Maryland 20705, 301-504-5719.
National Institute on Aging, Public Information Office, Building 31, Room 5C27, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Maryland 20892, 301-496-1752.
American Association for Cancer Education, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Box 189, 1515 Holcombe Boulevard, Houston, Texas 77030-4095, 1-713-792-3020.
American Cancer Society. 1599 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30329-4215, 1-800-ACS-2345, 404-320-3333.
American Lung Association. 432 Park Avenue South, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016, 212-889-3370. Contact your local chapter by phoning 1-800-LUNG-USA.
National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship. 323 - 8th Street, SW, Albuquerque, New Mexico 87102, 505-242-3263.
The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. 5005 LBJ Freeway, Suite 370, Dallas, Texas 75244, 214-450-1777.
The Breast Cancer Resource Committee. 1765 N Street, NW, Suite 100, Washington, DC 20036, 202-463-8040.
Closing the Gap is published by the Office of Minority Health Resource Center, a service of OMH. If you have comments please call 1-800-444-6472 with comments, write to OMH-RC, P.O. Box 37337, Washington, DC 20013-7337, or e-mail us at info@omhrc.gov.
Editor Blake Crawford Copy Editor Symra Spottswood Writers Michelle Meadows Barbara Allen
Last Modified: July 8, 1996
The Office of Minority Health Resource Center
E-Mail: info@omhrc.gov
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