"Screening saves lives by detecting cancers or detecting premalignancies at a time when treatment is most likely to be successful. Five-year relative survival rates for prostate, breast, cervical and colorectal cancer are above 90 percent if the tumor is discovered before it spreads to other parts of the body; once the tumor metastasized, survival rates drop to 34 percent for prostate cancer, 23 percent for breast cancer, 15 percent for cervical cancer and 9 percent for colorectal cancer."
--UCLA Health Policy Research Center

In California, despite income or insurance status, racial/ethnic minority groups lag in cancer screening rates and experience poor treatment outcomes as a result of late-stage screening.

In response, a multiethnic panel from the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations representing African-American, Latino and Asian/Pacific Islander physicians has come together to develop an accredited continuing medical education course. The course educates physicians about the looming dangers of allowing high-risk Asians, native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, American Indians, native Alaskans, Latinos and African-Americans to go without regular cancer screening.

"Cancer is one of the major causes of death for Asian-Americans," notes Edward A. Chow, MD, executive director of the Chinese Community Health Care Association in San Francisco. "Unfortunately, the diagnosis is often made late in the course of the disease. Using proven cancer-detecting tests can reduce mortality rates by diagnosing it early."

Specific cultural considerations can sometimes be roadblocks to screening. "Some Asian women may be reluctant to ask their physicians, especially if the physician is male, for a Pap smear or mammogram because of cultural issues regarding modesty," says Quyen Ngo-Metzger, MD, a UC Irvine physician.

Perhaps for the same reason, the rate of cervical cancer among Latina women is high--double that of white women. "I stress with my patients the need to get preventive health checkups and encourage them to get cervical and breast cancer screenings," says Margaret Juarez, MD, an obstetrician/gynecologist practicing in Los Angeles and president of the California Latino Medical Association. "The earlier that a diagnosis is made, the better the outcome. Cancer screening saves lives."

Designed to raise physician awareness and address cancer screening disparities, the accredited CME course includes:

1. The latest information on screening rates for a variety of racial/ethnic groups,

2. The impact of cancer across racial/ethnic groups by disease state,

3. Barriers to screening for both the physician and the patient, and

4. The impact of physician recommendation on screening rates.

Access to this critical information is easy. The Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations and the California Medical Association Foundation have made the course available online at www.ethnicphysicians.org or as a live presentation by Israel de Alba, MD, of UC Irvine. Enrollees will receive 2 Category I credits for participation.

Free Patient Materials
To reinforce the message about the importance of screening, free patient education materials are available for physician use at www.ethnicphysicians.org/projects under the heading of "Cancer Screening Project."

L.A. Care Health Plan's Cultural and Linguistic Services Department, the California Medical Association Foundation and the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations collaborated to develop the materials, which are written at the appropriate literacy level in 10 languages, ranging from Armenian to Tagalog. Indeed, incorporating the principles of health literacy is important in getting patients to take action and get screened.

The depth and breadth of the cancer screening project is in sync with the mission of the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations. A collaboration of 37 ethnic physician organizations representing 10,000 physicians, the group is united in its goal of addressing health disparities and improving access to healthcare within ethnic communities.

For more information about the network or to schedule a CME presentation, visit www.ethnicphysicians.org or contact me at the phone number or e-mail address below. Together, we can ensure that more ethnic patients have the better outcomes referenced in the UCLA research.

Doretha Williams-Flournoy, MS, is project director for the Network of Ethnic Physician Organizations at the California Medical Association Foundation in Sacramento. She can be reached at 916/551-2543 or dwilliamsflournoy@cmanet.org.