Abstract IA18: Patient navigation and colorectal cancer screening among African Americans and Latinos

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer mortality in the US. While there have been significant advances in CRC screening technology over the past decades, and despite the known survival benefits when cancer is detected early, low CRC screening rates persist among minority and underserved populations(1,2) .African Americans have the highest CRC incidence and mortality of any racial/ethnic group in the United States (1,3,4). The American Cancer Society (1) reports that African Americans have a 20% higher incidence rate and a 45% higher mortality rate than non-Hispanic whites. In fact, although CRC mortality has declined by 39% among non-Hispanic whites since 1960, mortality among African Americans has increased by 28% (5). Higher mortality rates among African Americans may be largely explained by the later stage at which CRC is diagnosed (6) emphasizing the importance of improving adherence to screening guidelines in this population. Furthermore, CRC screening rates among African Americans, at 55.5%, are significantly lower than rates among whites (61.5%)(7) Relatedly, Latinos are the largest and fastest growing immigrant population in the U.S.(8) . Although Latinos have lower CRC incidence and mortality rates than whites, CRC still looms as the second most common malignancy, and the second and third leading cause of cancer death among Latino males and females, respectively (7,9). They also have some of the lowest screening rates of all ethnic groups. For...
Source: Cancer Epidemiology Biomarkers and Prevention - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Colorectal Cancer: Oral Presentations - Invited Abstracts Source Type: research