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Special Spotlight: Hispanic Heritage Month

, by CRCHD staff

Hispanics and Latinos continue to experience cancer health disparities for certain types of cancer, usually due to obstacles that make access to quality health care a challenge. 

While Latinos are the fastest growing population group in the U.S. (at about 17% of entire population in 2014), only a quarter of them are medically insured. 

Some examples of cancer health disparities among Hispanics and Latinos are:

  • Hispanic women experience cervical cancer incidence at twice the rate than non-Hispanic White women.
  • Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among Hispanic women.
  • Only 38% of Hispanic women age 40 and older have regular mammogram screenings, a simple procedure that can detect breast cancer at its earliest stage and before clinical symptoms develop.

Learn more about CRCHD funded research that aims to reduce cancer health disparities in this target population group:

  • Read about CRCHD grantee Dr. Isabel Scarinci's advocacy work to bring equal health care to Latino immigrants living in Alabama.
  • Meet the first Ph.D. graduates from CRCHD's U54 Partnership for Excellence in Cancer Research between Univ. of Puerto Rico and Univ. of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, who are dedicated to researching cancer health disparities that affect Hispanics and Latinos, including Puerto Ricans.
  • Learn about CRCHD grantee Dr. Kimberly Payne's research, aimed at evaluating why a specific form of childhood leukemia has a high mortality rate in  Hispanic and Native American children compared to other populations.
  • Read about a CRCHD funded partnership between University of Puerto Rico and MD Anderson Cancer Center that established the first state-of-the-art cancer center in Puerto Rico (to be opened in 2016).

Resources for Hispanics and Latinos:

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November Spotlight: Native American Heritage Month and Cancer Awareness Highlights

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Special Spotlight: 2014 AACR Conference: The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved

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