The mission of the University of New Mexico Cancer Research and Treatment Center (UNM CRTC) is to use the expertise in basic and translational cancer research, epidemiology and clinical therapeutic and prevention trials to reduce the incidence and mortality of cancer in New Mexico. Participation in cooperative clinical trials sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI) is a critical part of this mission. CRTC investigators have been contributing patients and scientific expertise to the NCI program since the center opened in 1975. The CRTC is part of the UNM School of Medicine (UNM SOM), one of eight components of the UNM Health Sciences Center (UNM HSC), the only academic medical center in the state. Among the CRTC's resources is the New Mexico Tumor Registry (NMRT), one of the original 12 NCI-funded Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) programs. The (NMTR) provides current and historical information about cancer in New Mexico's unique populations and is the world's largest database on cancer incidence and mortality in Hispanics and American Indians. New Mexico is characterized by ethnic diversity, unusual patterns of cancer incidence and mortality, poverty and poor access to medical services. The population is 38 percent Hispanic, 9 percent Native American, 2 percent African American and 51 percent Non-Hispanic White, Asian or """"""""other."""""""" New cancer diagnoses at the CRTC reflect this pattern; in 1998, CRTC patients were 34 percent Hispanic, 7 percent Native American, 2 percent African American and 57 percent Non-Hispanic White, Asian or """"""""other."""""""" The state's population is 49 percent male and 51 percent female; in 1998, newly diagnosed cancer patients were 42 percent male and 58 percent female. The CRTC is a member institution of the Southwest Oncology Group (SWOG) and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP). An affiliate network of community physicians offers treatment and prevention studies from these groups to their patients in Albuquerque, Sante Fe, Farmington and Raton. The CRTC participates successfully in the large NCI-funded chemoprevention programs for breast and prostate cancer and the affiliate network has begun recruitment and outreach for NSABP's STAR trial. The CRTC pediatric oncologists are members of the Pediatric Oncology Group (POG), whose protocols are available to patients referred to the HSC by pediatricians and family practice physicians statewide. Designation as a Minority-Based Community Cancer Oncology Program will provide a stable and flexible funding base to increase accrual, strengthen the affiliate network and expand outreach to minority populations and the medically underserved.
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