Source: www.postandcourier.com
Author: Yvonne Wenger

Jim Etheredge got his wake-up call in 1979.

He wants yours to come today: Blacks in South Carolina who are diagnosed with prostate, oral or female breast cancer die from the diseases at nearly twice the rate of whites.

Researchers at the University of South Carolina revealed the findings of the groundbreaking study Tuesday, but it’s old news to Etheredge, an African-American who lost his parents to cancer 30 years ago.

His parents saw their country doctor in rural Leesburg only if they were feeling sick, so by the time they were diagnosed with cancer, the disease was ready to claim their lives, Etheredge said.

Although the study may seem to send a dismal message, Etheredge said it is laced with good news.

“You don’t have to die from cancer any more,” he said.

Etheredge works as coordinator for the cancer disparities program at the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina. He said turning around the findings of the study begins with men and women in the community relying on the resources that are available to help.

James Herbert, the study’s lead author and a professor at USC’s Arnold School of Public Health, said the findings don’t provide any answers for the disparity. Continued research and community participation are necessary to saving lives, he said. Herbert is seeking grants to continue the work.

“What this is telling us is, after you’ve had a cancer diagnosis, if you’re black and you live in South Carolina, you are at an extremely higher risk of dying of cancer,” Herbert said. “Can I answer the question, ‘What’s driving this?’ Not definitively.”

Possibilities include diet, lifestyle, income, transportation, trust between doctor and patient, environment and region, biology, stage of diagnosis, tobacco use, access to health insurance and follow-up care.

This study is different from many others, Herbert said. Instead of comparing the rate at which men and women get cancer, it compares how often cancer kills the people who have it.

The data was used to develop regional snapshots from 2001 to 2005 and compares the findings according to race and gender against one another and the national average. The information is further broken down by the type of cancer.

Study findings include:

  • Blacks living in the Lowcountry, the Pee Dee and the Grand Strand die from colorectal cancer at a rate at least 20 percent higher than the national average. The rate for white men and women is at the national average or below.
  • The rate at which black females die from breast cancer is at least 20 percent higher than the national average in half of the state and more than 20 percent higher in the other half. The rate for white females is at the national average or below, except in the Pee Dee.
  • Oral cancer death rates for blacks are more than 20 percent higher than the national average in all but four counties: Hampton, Colleton, Jasper and Beaufort. The rates in those counties are about 10 percent higher than the national average.

Marvella Ford, associate director of cancer disparities at the Hollings Cancer Center, said the center, among other advocates, is developing strategies to improve access to care for blacks and whites. One such strategy is the Best Chance Network, a program that provides breast and cervical cancer screening for low-income, uninsured women.

For the Charleston community and beyond, the Hollings center offers a mobile health unit to provide screenings, helps patients find a home-base for medical care, has an outreach education program with the South Carolina Cancer Alliance and provides navigators who help patients throughout their treatment.

“I don’t want people to feel that cancer is a death sentence,” Ford said. “I don’t want to lose the message of hope: Cancer is treatable and survivable.”