The First National Hispanic/Latino Family Cancer Awareness Week is Sept. 20-26
September 20th through September 26th is National Hispanic/Latino Family Cancer Awareness Week. The goal is to gather community-based groups to increase cancer awareness and build knowledge surrounding cancer clinical trial participation as well increase the understanding of ways to contribute to national genetic databases for cancer research.
Cancer is the leading cause of death for the Hispanic/Latino population in the U.S., accounting for the death of about 23,800 Hispanic/Latino men and 22,700 Hispanic/Latino women in 2021. Hispanic/Latino individuals have higher rates of infection-related cancers, including approximately two-fold higher incidence of liver and stomach cancer compared to Non-Hispanic White (NHW) individuals. Cervical cancer incidence is 32% higher among Hispanic/Latino women in the continental U.S. and Hawaii and 78% higher among women in Puerto Rico compared to NHW women. Hispanic/Latino children and adolescents have a significantly higher incidence of several cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, and a poorer 5-year overall survival than their NHW counterparts.
#OCEProjectCommunity is the hub of the social media campaign for the National Hispanic/Latino Family Cancer Awareness Week via #LatinoCancer. Project Community welcomes public and private, community-focused engagement entities, organizations, and families throughout the US (and beyond US boundaries if participants so choose) to support efforts to increase cancer clinical trial awareness.
Local resources for caner patients are provided through Cancer Services of Davidson County located at 25 W. 6th Avenue in Lexington. Phone: (336) 249-7265 or visit their website at:https://cancerservicesofdc.org/.
Other information is also available at: https://latinocancerinstitute.org/.
