AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2020

Download or read book AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2020 written by American Association for Cancer Research and published by . This book was released on 2020-03-24 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cancer health disparities are one of the most pressing public health challenges we face today in the United States, and the AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2020 highlights areas of progress in addressing this challenge. It also emphasizes the need for continued research and for increased collaboration among stakeholders if we are to achieve the bold vision of health equity. Racial and ethnic minorities are among the populations groups that have long experienced significant cancer health disparities, although progress in the form of narrowing of the disparities in the overall cancer death rate among racial and ethnic groups in the United States is evident in recent years. We have also made progress in deepening our understanding of the many complex factors that contribute to cancer health disparities. Most important among these are social, clinical, behavioral, cultural, psychological, environmental, and genetic and biological factors. Unfortunately, as pointed out in the report, most data on cancer biology comes from white individuals and there is an urgent need for much more research to increase our understanding of the genes and mutations associated with cancer in racial and ethnic minorities.Despite recent advances in cancer treatment, racial and ethnic minorities are often less likely to receive the standard of care recommended for the type and stage of cancer with which they have been diagnosed. To achieve health equity for everyone, stakeholders must work together to remove the barriers that prevent all segments of the population benefiting equally from lifesaving progress in cancer treatment, including a serious lack of racial and ethnic diversity among those who pariticipate in cancer clinical trials. Over the past decade, the field of cancer health disparities research has evolved from simply describing different outcomes among populations into an established multidisciplinary field of research. To further accelerate the pace of progress against cancer health disparities concerted efforts by all stakeholders is absolutely critical. Thus, the report concludes with a call to action to Congress. Through robust and sustained funding, Congress help us achieve the bold vision of health equity.