3rd NCI Symposium on Cancer Health Disparities

Cancer health disparities affect millions of people across the United States.Disparities in cancer burden are evident by geography, race/ethnicity, genetic ancestry, immigrant status, culture, gender, sexual orientation (LGBTQ+), and socioeconomic class, among other factors.Cancer disparities are not only due to barriers in access to health care, but also due to cultural barriers, environmental disadvantage, ancestry-related risk factors, persistent co-morbidities, and chronic stress exposure because of discrimination and social isolation.For example, migration studies provided strong evidence that the environment defines cancer risk whereas additional findings from population studies suggest that differences in genetic ancestry can lead to population differences in cancer susceptibility.One such mechanism by which environmental and ancestry-related factors affect health outcomes is by inducing an adverse tumor biology, leading to an increased tumor mutational burden and an altered immune profile.

This symposium will present recent advances in our understanding of the causes of cancer health disparities in rural populations and among Native Americans, focus on the roles of financial toxicity and the tumor immune profile in causing outcome disparities and discuss evidence based strategies to reduce these disparities, including novel approaches to prevention and precision medicine.

Read on ncifrederick.cancer.gov

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