Native American cancer programs

During the Sixth Biennial Symposium on Minorities, the Medically Underserved and Cancer held April, 1997 in Washington, D.C., multiple presentations were included that highlighted American Indian and Alaska Native cancer issues. The focus of this paper is on recommendations for subsequent cancer prevention and control research and service projects that were presented during the symposium. There continues to be a need for increased support for community-driven and community-based interventions, greater utilization and visibility of cancer survivors within interventions, culturally competent "navigator" programs, culturally relevant cancer patient-support programs, a registry that collects Native-American cancer data to assist learning about cancer patterns among indigenous populations, improved access to state-of-the-art treatment services, racially accurate databases that are relevant to diverse geographic regions, research of disproportionate cancer sites among specific subpopulations, and culturally relevant interventions that may increase the survival of Native-American cancer patients. Research funding priorities must include special initiatives for medically underserved populations, and grant review panels need to use caution with regard to when and how they implement "cost effectiveness" as a review criterion. Support for culturally competent cancer prevention and control research and service projects targeted for the medically underserved is needed. Cancer 1998;83:1849-1855.