Center Joins Crucial Communications Campaign Against Cancer
Responding to a communications challenge related to a rise in cancer deaths - particularly among men of color - the UCLA Center for Community Partnerships is now supporting an awareness campaign managed by a unique treatment program.
IMPACT, a program funded by the California Department of Health Services under the direction of Dr. Mark S. Litwin and Dr. James R. Orecklin of the UCLA Department of Urology, is addressing the growing need for health education as well as medical services to reduce the risks and incidents of advanced prostate cancer.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and the second leading cause of cancer deaths. IMPACT provides free prostate cancer treatment to low-income, uninsured and under-insured California men. Communicating information on the disease and available services is essential, IMPACT managers say.
The Center for Community Partnerships (CCP) recently joined the outreach effort by hosting a public forum on prostate cancer, an event that reviewed the need for IMPACT?s services and explored possible solutions to special challenges - among them, the higher mortality rate among African American men.
CCP Director Frank Gilliam discussed the role of the center in opening comments at the forum, held in the Mark Taper Auditorium in the downtown Los Angeles Public Library.
"I?m trying to move knowledge out of Westwood and into the community," said Gillam, associate vice chancellor for community partnerships at UCLA. "We?re trying to bring expertise and service to Los Angeles."
The panel of experts for the program - "Caring for Uninsured Californians: Prostate Cancer and Your Community" - included IMPACT?s Dr. Litwin; Dr. Jeffrey Kaufman, immediate past president of the American Urological Association; Dr. Mehdi Jam, director of the Prostate Cancer Center at Los Angeles? King Drew Medical Center and Yochanan Israel, project manager for radiation oncology at the USC-Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center.
The panelists discussed the factors in the growth of prostate cancer, a disease that has been on the rise among all men since 1973, according to the National Cancer Institute. At risk, said Dr. Kaufman, are older men as well as men with a family history of prostate cancer and those with high-fat diets.
Panelists also discussed ways to reduce the prostate cancer mortality rate of men of color in California. A National Cancer Institute study conducted from 1973 to 1995 showed that African American men have a 60% higher incidence rate of prostate cancer and double the mortality rate of white men.
Such disparities can be eliminated through regular medical testing and through early treatment of the disease, said Yochanan Israel of USC-Norris, citing recent studies. IMPACT provides treatment and works with organizations that provide medical testing.
"When blacks come in as early as whites, they have the same survival rate," Israel said. "People need to know IMPACT exists and that it is there when you need it."
Commenting on his experience, blacks and Latinos in need of treatment typically have not sought medical help until the cancer reaches an advanced and deadly stage, said Dr. Jam of King Drew.
IMPACT is addressing the need to educate middle-aged men on the need for early testing and early treatment, said Dr. Litwin. They are making special efforts to reach communities of color through, for example, forums and brochures. Brochures on IMPACT services have been distributed in communities with large African American populations. IMPACT has also distributed brochures in Spanish and Asian languages to reach those who do not speak or read English.
However, the state government recently cut IMPACT?s budget by 50% as part of an effort to address fiscal problems. If there are additional significant cuts in funding, IMPACT may be forced to create a "waiting list" for those seeking services, Dr. Litwin said.