Folakemi T Odedina and Parisa Fathi
Mayo Clinic Florida, Center for Health Equity and Community Engagement Research, 4500 San Pablo Road, Jacksonville, FL 32224, USA
Correspondence to: Folakemi T Odedina email: Odedina.Folakemi@mayo.edu
Health disparities exist across the cancer care continuum resulting in differences in cancer incidences, morbidity and mortality based on race, ethnicity, socio-economic status (SES), geographical location, age and sexual orientation [1]. In the United States (US), people with low socio-economic status (SES), underrepresented minorities (especially Blacks and Latinx) and individuals from Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Questioning, Intersexed (LGBTQI*) community experience significant cancer health disparities. Cancer care and treatment studies must include health disparity populations in order to find new ways to reduce cancer disparities. The lack of representation of these populations in biomedical research contributes significantly to sub-optimal cancer outcomes [2-5]. Eliminating cancer disparities requires appropriate representation of health disparity populations in the cancer biomedical research workforce. Funded by the US National Cancer Institute, the Cancer Research Training Opportunities for Outstanding Leaders (ReTOOL) Programme (R25CA214225) is a pipeline programme that creates opportunities and promote careers for underrepresented minority (URM) students from diverse disciplines.
The long-term goal of the ReTOOL programme is to increase the pool of minority cancer researchers in the US by training the next generation of URM researchers. ReTOOL trainees participate in a 15-week summer training experience that includes a 2-week didactic curriculum and 13-week research experience in a mentor’s laboratory. ReTOOL trainees' research experiences include basic, clinical and behavioural research focused on cancer health disparities. Since the ReTOOL programme was launched in 2012, it has successfully trained over 80 URM students. Programme achievements include 56 presentations at scientific conferences and 29 publications. Twenty-six (26) students either have earned or are pursuing health professions or doctoral degrees. This special issue highlights the cancer health disparity research of ReTOOL trainees and alumni, under the guidance of their respective mentors. For the majority of these trainees, this is the first publication of their academic careers.
The special issue starts with macro-level factors in cancer health disparities and narrows down to the micro-level factors faced by Blacks globally. Jordan Swaby and mentor Dr Ernest Kaninjing begin by focusing on the barriers that cause limited participation of US Blacks in clinical trials despite the need for diverse populations in clinical trials and high rates of cancer experienced by Black communities. Anisah Husman and mentor Dr Elizabeth Akin-Odanye continue the discussion by reporting on cancer and cancer-related stigma and the effects it has on health-seeking behaviours, patient involvement, and treatment outcomes and how stigma may cause higher cancer burden in low-and-middle-income countries throughout Africa. Orlando Rivera Colon and mentor Dr Opeyemi Bolajoko conducted an analysis of Cameroonian, Nigerian, and US-born Black men’s responses to the Prostate Cancer Transatlantic Consortium (CaPTC)’s Familial Cohort study to determine if there are intersections between men’s access to health care, lifestyle factors, and prostate cancer screening. To better address the cancer screening needs of Haitian and African American men, Alexandra Jean-Louis and mentor Dr Fern Webb developed a cross-sectional survey to gauge the acceptance of at-home prostate and colon cancer screening kits and what factors might mitigate or limit one’s use of at-home screening kits.
The ReTOOL trainees and their mentors have explored factors implicated in cancer health disparities as well as effective approaches to improve cancer prevention and risk reduction. A unique approach taken by the trainees is to focus on the diversity of the ethnicity of Blacks in the US as well as comparing them to their ancestral populations in Africa. The ReTOOL programme is creating the next generation of cancer health disparity scientists.
References
1. American Cancer Society, Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2019-2021. Atlanta: American Cancer Society, 2019.
2. Recommendations of the clinical trials consensus panel. National Medical Association, Journal of National Medical Association. 2000;92(10):464-71
3. Ellis PM, Butow PN, Tattersall MH Informing breast cancer patients about clinical trials: a randomized clinical trial of an educational booklet. Ann Oncol. 2002;13(9):1414–1423.
4. Kimmick GG, Peterson BL, Kornblith AB, Mandelblatt J, Johnson JL, Wheeler J, Heinze R, Cohen HJ, Muss HB. Improving accrual of older persons to cancer treatment trials: a randomized trial comparing an educational intervention with standard information: CALGB 360001. J Clin Oncol. 2005;23(10):2201–2207.
5. Du W, Mood D, Gadgeel S, Simon MS. An educational video to increase clinical trials enrolment among lung cancer patients. J Thorac Oncol. 2008;3(1):23–29.
