Community Core

癌症造成很高的发病率和死亡率，特别是在路易斯安那州的少数民族中，那里的差异很大

Cancer causes great morbidity and mortality particularly among minorities in Louisiana, where disparities are well documented but poorly understood. Some of the disparities are attributable in part to differences in cancer screening, an area in which community-focused interventions can make a remarkable difference. An LSUHSC site, the River Parishes Early Detection and Prevention Program, located in rural Louisiana (Sorrento Clinic) has contributed highly to the understanding of disparities in cancer screening. This five year old facility is a unique program, located in the industrial corridor where there is a disproportionate number of cancers (see above). This clinic is dedicated to cancer screening, and over 2,000 cancer screenings per year are performed. This site has also become and important component of our LSUHSC MB-CCOP by enrolling subjects into NCI-sponsored prevention trials. Both our Training and Community Engagement Cores will take advantage of this unique setting. For example, the Sorrento Clinic will offer opportunities for training CRAs and will offer summer research rotations for undergraduates. In fact, this clinic has become popular among medical students who wish to perform a one month "elective in cancer screening." In addition, the four FQHCs run by EXCELth are sites where cancer screening is promoted through community engagement. To that end, our Community Engagement Core will produce new knowledge on how to enhance the participation of minorities in cancer screening. This program has demonstrably and reproducibly increased the breast and cervical cancer screening of AA women. This program is presented in detail in the section devoted to Community Engagement.