Cancer Disparities: Causes and Evidence-Based Solutions

There has been remarkable progress in understanding, preventing, detecting, diagnosing, and treating cancer, resulting in a reduction of cancer incidence and mortality in the United States. Despite this, the cancer burden varies considerably by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Cancer incidence rates vary markedly between racial/ethnic groups, but even more startling are the differences in outcome across groups.

 

Cancer Disparities: Causes and Evidence-Based Solutions helps readers understand the scope and causes of this inequity by providing a detailed analysis of the many factors that result in cancer disparities across the cancer continuum, including the role of race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, access to and use of services, insurance status, geographic variables, and differences in treatment provided to patients.

 

Further, it is the first book to describe evidence-based, concrete solutions that can be used to reduce or even eliminate cancer health disparities. Fifteen previously unpublished studies of interventions designed specifically to achieve health equality are described. These studies focus on contextually and culturally appropriate strategies to enhance cancer prevention, screening and early detection, treatment, symptom management, and quality of life in underserved populations.

Ronit Elk, PhD is the former Director of Cancer Control and Prevention Research and Director of the Priority Program in Health Disparities of the Extramural Research Grants at the American Cancer Society.  Dr. Elk is the author, with Dr. Monica Morrow, of Breast Cancer for Dummies.  She is also the author of two children’s books, A Surprise at Dancing Fields and It’s the Elephant’s Picnic.

Hope Landrine, PhD is Director of the Center for Health Disparities Research and Professor of Psychology at East Carolina University. She has published numerous articles and books on the topic, and received six national awards for her research, including the American Psychological Association (APA) Dalmas Taylor Award for Lifetime, Distinguished Contributions to Research on Ethnic Minorities, and Fellow status in APA Divisions 35 (Women), 9 (Social Issues), 38 (Health), and 45 (Ethnic Minorities) for outstanding contributions to research. She is the former Director of Multicultural Health Behavior Research at the American Cancer Society, and continues to collaborate with American Cancer Society and National Cancer Institute scholars on studies of Black-White cancer disparities.