) Cancer is a significant problem for the minority populations of this country. The only way to decrease mortality from cancer is perform clinical research that includes minorities and that answers questions relevant to those minority populations. Economic, logistic. and cultural barriers exist for both patients and physicians to the recruitment and retention of minorities into clinical cancer research. The purpose of this Pacific Northwest conference is to determine the barriers that exist for the minorities and physicians in this region, to share strategies that have worked, to devise new strategies, and to describe the problem of malignancy in the minority populations and the future research questions that must be addressed. The conference will focus on a region consisting of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Hawaii, and Alaska. The audience will include physicians from the community representing the minority groups, physicians who are active in clinical cancer research, scientists that are designing research trials, and members of the community who are involved in health care delivery to minority populations. The format of the conference will include presentations supplemented by workshops focused on improving the cultural competence of physicians caring for minority patients and on increasing the awareness of the minority community to the importance of cancer research and the benefits it can bring them.
