Cancer is the second leading cause of death among Hispanic adults in the United States and accounts for20% of all deaths among Hispanics. Similar to the general U.S. population, 1:2 Hispanic men and 1:3 Hispanicwomen will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime, and 1:5 Hispanic men and 1:6 Hispanic women will diefrom the disease. The purpose of the Puerto Rico Community Cancer Control Outreach Program (CCCOP) isto develop comprehensive, sustainable partnerships for increasing outreach, education, research, and trainingrelated to cancer prevention and control in Puerto Rico (PR), with a specific focus on tobacco control, breastand cervical cancer screening and prevention, and recruitment and retention of Puerto Ricans into clinical trialsand prevention protocols.Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death and disability among adults in the U.S. and almost onethirdof all cancers are directly attributable to tobacco use. Although the prevalence of smoking among PuertoRicans living in PR is lower (13.1%) than in the continental United States (20.6%), the five leading causes ofdeath in PR (i.e., heart disease, malignant neoplasms, stroke, hypertension and chronic pulmonary disease)are associated with smoking. Moreover, 11.5% of all deaths and 10% of all health care costs in PR areattributable to smoking. Thus, reducing tobacco use remains a cornerstone of cancer prevention and control.However, there are very few resources currently available that focus on tobacco control in PR. The OutreachPilot Program (OPP), from the ongoing Partnership, has begun to address these issues and the proposedCCCOP will considerably extend and maintain our efforts related to tobacco control through capacity buildingand community-based approaches.Despite lower incidence and prevalence rates of breast cancer among Hispanic women in the U.S., andmong women in PR than among non-Hispanic Whites in the U.S., Hispanic women are more likely to beagnosed at more advanced stages of the disease, to receive substandard treatment, and to have poorer fiveyearsurvival than non-Hispanic Whites. Additionally, among Puerto Rican women, breast cancer is the mostcommonly diagnosed neoplasm (35% of all cancers) and the leading cause of cancer deaths (15% of allcancer-related deaths). Unlike breast cancer, incidence rates for cervical cancer are nearly two-times higheramong Hispanic women than among non-Hispanic white women, and mortality rates are 30% higher amongHispanics than non-Hispanic Whites. Cervical cancer is also responsible for a greater proportion of cancerdeaths among Hispanics as compared to non-Hispanic Whites (3% vs. 1.4% of all cancer deaths respectively).Among Puerto Ricans living on the island, cervical cancer is the 41h most commonly diagnosed neoplasm,accounting for 4% of all newly diagnosed cancers, and 2.4% of all cancer-related deaths in women.To accomplish the goals proposed for the CCCOP, all program components will build upon thecollaborations, infrastructure, network development, and outreach successes of the existing OPP.
The specificaims of the program are to: 1. Maintain, strengthen, and further develop a cancer control outreach network thatwill build upon existing relationships and develop new collaborations among the University of Puerto Rico(UPR), The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), and key Puerto Rican communityand health organizations; 2. Conduct a community assessment of needs and resources for breast and cervicalcancer (BCCS) prevention and screening, tobacco control, and the elimination of disparities related to thesecancers and behaviors; 3. Together with community partners, jointly identify, adapt, and/or develop culturallycompetent cancer control outreach and education programs to address disparities in breast and cervicalcancers, tobacco control, and participation in clinical trials; 4. Develop and implement strategies for sustainingoutreach, networking, and dissemination efforts beyond the funding period of the CCCOP; 5. Provide activementoring and career development opportunities to U54 researchers and community partners to build capacityin cancer control and community-based participatory research.The proposed study provides benefits to both the UPRCCC and MDACC as each partner brings uniquexpertise to the Partnership. The CCCOP also includes major career development components devoted torther development of UPR and MDACC investigators.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 157 publications
