Workshop: The Latest in Metastatic Breast Cancer Care & Treatment
Sep 1st
CancerCare, in partnership with Redes En Acción, which is led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, will offer a free Connect Education Workshop, Update on Metastatic Breast Cancer: What’s New?, from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. EST on Oct. 14, 2010.
In the tele-workshop, expert speakers will discuss updates on metastatic breast cancer, the current standard of care and new treatment approaches, how clinical research improves care, diagnostic testing and technologies, communicating with your health care team, and more.
Other upcoming CancerCare workshops include: The Importance of Clinical Trials, Sept. 24; The Importance of Taking Your Pills on Schedule, Oct. 5; Update on the Treatment of Liver Cancer, Nov. 9.
The breast cancer workshop is free and no phone charges apply.
To register, visit the CancerCare Web site.
‘Insider’ Training Program to Increase Number of Latino Researchers Studying Latino Cancer
Aug 30th
Question: Who might have insider information about Latinos that would pave the way for novel studies of cultural, linguistic and socioeconomic issues to prevent Latinos from suffering worse cancer outcomes?
Answer: A cancer researcher who also is a Latino.
To that end, the new Latino Training Program for Cancer Control Research (LTPCCR), led by the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio thanks to a new five-year, $1.57-million grant from the National Cancer Institute, aims to motivate Latinos to get their doctoral degree and become “insider researchers” in the field of cancer control among Latinos.
Right now, few Latinos pursue doctoral degrees or cancer research careers, causing a gap in the amount of researchers examining Latino cancer issues.
The LTPCCR will develop and organize a summer training institute, paid research internships, doctoral application support and mentoring to encourage Latino master’s-level students and professionals—from Texas, Oklahoma, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada—to complete doctoral programs and start careers in cancer control research.
“We hope that training new Latino researchers will increase the proportion of Latinos in cancer control research, which in turn will increase the amount of work being done to reduce cancer health inequalities that affect the Latino population,” said Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the IHPR, the team behind SaludToday.
Read more about the new program here.
PSAs Win Film Awards for Raising Latino Cancer Screening Awareness
Aug 26th
Two public service announcements (PSAs) that urge Latinos to get screened for cancer have won prestigious “Public Service” Awards at the 31st Annual Telly Awards for the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday.
The winning PSAs, “I Admire Them” and “Now You Know,” are 30-second TV spots produced by the IHPR’s Redes En Acción: The National Latino Cancer Research Network, a National Cancer Institute network.
These two PSAs and four others were released in late 2009 by Redes to encourage Latinos to learn more about screening tests available for breast, cervical and colorectal cancers by calling the NCI’s toll-free number (1-800-4CANCER). The culturally appropriate PSAs were developed by Redes cancer experts.
All 6 PSAs, which are currently airing on TV stations across the nation and on the SaludToday Web site.
Watch the winning PSA, “I Admire Them,” in English or Spanish or below:
Watch the winning PSA, “Now Your Know,” in English or Spanish or below:
Young Hollywood Wants to ‘Change the Odds’ with Cancer PSA
Aug 5th
More than a dozen of Hollywood’s young stars – including Zac Efron, Dakota Fanning, Andrew Garfield, Vanessa Hudgens, Logan Lerman, Kristen Bell, Jon Heder, Aubrey Plaza, Zachary Levi, Sofia Vassilieva, Clark Duke, Olivia Munn, Naya Rivera, Donald Faison, Aaron Yoo and William Moseley – are part of a new a new public service campaign called “Change The Odds,” in support of Stand Up To Cancer, a program of the Entertainment Industry Foundation devoted to raising funds for cancer research, USA Today reports.
Stand Up To Cancer will return to prime-time TV on Sept. 10, 2010, at 8 p.m. ET/PT. The one-hour fundraising event will be simulcast live and commercial-free on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, HBO, Discovery Health, E!, MLB Network, The Style Network, VH1, HBO Latino, Showtime, TV One and G4.
Watch the PSA here or below:
Join Redes En Acción & Help Fight Latino Cancer
Jul 29th
You’re invited to join 
Redes En Acción: The National Latino Cancer Research Network and become part of a nationwide effort to fight cancer among Latinos.
Redes, which is funded by the National Cancer Institute and directed by Dr. Amelie G. Ramirez of SaludToday and the Institute of Health Promotion Research at the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio, has spent 10 years reducing Latino cancer.
Redes has generated more than $200 million in funding for cancer research, trained more than 200 students and health professionals and conducted more than 2,000 community education events and developed bilingual educational materials and PSAs.
Watch a stirring video here or below about the program’s achievements among Latinos. Then join us!
Also, watch the program’s six new PSAs touting Latino cancer prevention in English or Spanish here. To request broadcast-quality formats of the PSAs, email us at saludtoday@uthscsa.edu.
Cigarette Smoke Jolts Hundreds of Genes (from San Antonio Study of Mainly Mexican-American Population)
Jul 15th
From Reuters, 2008
A new study shows lighting up a cigarette changes a person’s gene activity across the body, a possible clue as to why smoking affects overall health—from heart disease to combating infections, LiveScience reports.
A research team from Australia and San Antonio, Texas, analyzed white blood cell samples of 1,240 mainly Mexican-American people, ages 16-94, who were participating in the San Antonio Family Heart Study.
They found that the 297 self-identified smokers in the group were more likely to have unusual patterns of “gene expression” related to tumor development, inflammation, virus elimination, cell death and more. A gene is expressed when it codes for a protein that then instructs, or kick-starts, a process in the body.
The study found cigarette smoke could alter the level of expression of 323 genes.
“On some levels, we were surprised by the extent of the influence exposure to cigarette smoke had on gene expression, especially considering we used such a simple measure of smoke exposure: smoker or non-smoker,” lead author Jac Charlesworth, a research fellow at the Menzies Research Institute Tasmania in Australia, told LiveScience.
On the other hand, doctors have long known that smoking worsens cancer risk overall, depresses immune systems and causes other problems.
Cigarette smoke contains more than 4,000 chemical compounds, some of them known carcinogens.
The researchers were able to find subjects by testing samples from people in an existing study of Mexican-American families. It’s likely that smoking would affect other ethnic groups the same way, the researchers wrote, but they could not be sure unless other ethnic groups were involved in the study.
Millions, Especially Latinos, Need Cancer Screening
Jul 13th
More than 22 million adults have not had screening tests for colon cancer, and more than 7 million women have not had a recent mammogram to screen for breast cancer as recommended, according to reports in a new monthly scientific publication called CDC Vital Signs.
About a third of people are not getting colon cancer screening, which can detect the disease early when it is most treatable. This could be because they don’t know they can get colon cancer, they don’t have insurance or a doctor (a more likely case among Latinos), or their doctor hasn’t recommended screening.
Some women are not getting mammograms as recommended. About one of five women between the ages of 50 and 74 has not had a mammogram in the past two years. Latinas get screened at an even less frequent rate.
The CDC reports suggests these efforts to help:
- Health departments can find out why some groups of people are not being screened, and create programs to solve these problems and increase screening.
- Doctors and other health care providers can tell patients who should be screened about test options, make sure patients who can’t afford tests know about free screening services in their area, and remind patients when a screening test is due.
- People can ask their doctor about getting screened, get screened as recommended, and see their doctor promptly if a screening test shows there might be a problem.
Latinos, please watch the PSAs here or below to see why breast and colon cancer screening is so important:
Free iTunes App: LIVESTRONG English/Spanish Dictionary of Cancer Terms
Jul 8th
The LIVESTRONG English-Spanish Dictionary of Cancer Terms by Springbox, Ltd., is available online as a free app from iTunes.
By downloading the dictionary app, individuals can find definitions for cancer-related terms in both English and Spanish, searching more than 6,000 definitions provided by the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Users can switch views between languages to facilitate translation.
No Internet access is required for use of the app, a joint project of the Lance Armstrong Foundation and NCI.
NEW VIDEO: Latinas, See Why a Mammogram Could Save Your Life
Jun 28th
Latinas, even if you’ve heard it before, please listen: Cancer screening can save your life.
To see why, watch our new dramatic PSA where a Latino family with a history of breast cancer discusses the importance of getting a mammogram that can detect breast cancer early, when it’s most treatable:
Watch in Spanish here. Please leave a comment on how you liked the PSA.
For cancer info, call 1-800-4-CANCER.
Ramirez Named Liaison for New Komen-IOM Partnership to Examine Cancer & the Environment
Jun 14th
Amelie G. Ramirez
Amelie G. Ramirez, DrPH, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, the team behind SaludToday, is serving as liaison between Susan G. Komen for the Cure and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) for their new review of the effect of chemicals and the environment in breast cancer risk.
Komen is investing more than $1 million for the IOM to assess the strength of the science on links between breast cancer and the environment and also consider evidence-based preventive actions women might take to reduce their cancer risk.
The study also will develop recommendations for future research in this area.
Ramirez, elected to the IOM in 2007 and also a member of Komen’s Scientific Advisory Board, will serve as liaison between the groups and partake in the IOM’s new 15-expert committee that will meet periodically on the topic this year.
“I’m extremely excited to help these organizations take a closer look at the role that specific environmental factors place in breast cancer,” Ramirez said. “This effort will examine available evidence and try to find answers regarding the links between the environment, chemicals, lifestyle and cancer risk and development.”
Dr. Ramirez has spent 30 years directing many state-, federal- and privately-funded research programs focused on human and organizational communication to reduce chronic disease and cancer health disparities affecting Latinos. Under her leadership, the Institute for Health Promotion Research (IHPR) at The UT Health Science Center investigates cancer disparities among Latinos, including research on cancer control and prevention, cancer survivorship, smoking prevention, obesity and much more. Ramirez also directs the Cancer Prevention and Population Science research program at the Cancer Therapy & Research Center.
Read more about Dr. Ramirez here.