Breast cancer in an important public health problem. The impact of breast screening could be the reduction of 13,500 deaths per year in the United States from breast cancer. This prevention of deaths from breast cancer would have major impact on our society. Yet, in spite of the known value of breast cancer screening, significant segments of the population are not getting regular mammograms. As an example, 42% of African American women compared to 35% of White women have never had a mammography. Income and educational levels also impact on mammography rates. As a Cancer Center, our efforts must be targeted at the """"""""grass roots level"""""""" to educate women (and men) to be aware that early detection of breast cancer through screening saves lives. We propose to offer a Breast Cancer Education Summit Conference at our NCI designated Comprehensive Cancer Center which will motivate influential representatives of women's organizations, employers in both the private and public sector, health advocates, business, and community leaders to develop and support expanded breast cancer education, leading to early detection and ultimately reduced mortality. We will accomplish this goal by providing a one day educational conference that will provide up-to-date information about breast cancer and breast cancer screening with practical information on how diverse settings, with a range of resources, can offer programs to their constituencies in the community and the worksite. The target population is all women (and men), but with special emphasis on the medically underserved and hard-to- reach women. At Bellevue Hospital, a primary institution of the Kaplan Comprehensive Cancer Center at NYU Medical Center, we provide innovative programs that have been developed in multiple languages to meet the specific needs of the very population given special emphasis in the conference. In this summit proposal, the Kaplan Center is joining Cancer Care, Inc., a freestanding not for profit social service agency that is effective in communicating and providing services to communities of the New York metropolitan area. This linkage is particularly important because it joins community organizations such as local health centers, senior centers, churches and synagogues, as well as the worksite with the medically underserved and hard-to-reach women in the Kaplan Comprehensive Cancer Center's target population. The 1992 Summit will reach out to the underserved communities of the New York City metropolitan area, and by paying close attention to specific cultural and community needs, will work with local community and business leaders to educate women about early detection of breast cancer.
