National Sugar Cookie Day

New Nutritional and Physical Activity Guidelines

The American Cancer Society has updated its guidelines for diet and physical activity for cancer prevention, with adjustments to reflect the most current evidence. The updated guidelines increase recommended levels of physical activity and have an increased emphasis on reducing the consumption of processed and red meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, processed foods, and alcohol. They also include evidenced-based strategies to reduce barriers to healthy eating and active living and to reduce alcohol consumption. The guidelines are published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the Society’s flagship medical journal.

 

At least 18% of all cancers and about 16% of cancer deaths in the US are related to excess body weight, physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, and/or poor nutrition. Many of these cancers could potentially be prevented by following the ACS recommendations on nutrition and physical activity.

 

Resource: read the new guidelines on cancer.org

ACS researchers offer solutions to reduce health disparities in rural America

Highlight critical role of adequate health insurance coverage

An editorial about rural cancer disparities by members of our Surveillance and Health Services Research team was published June 24 in JCO Oncology Practice, an American Society of Clinical Oncology Journal.

“Rural Cancer Disparities in the United States: A Multilevel Framework to Improve Access to Care and Patient Outcomes” lays out the disparities suffered by rural residents. Because of the central role of health insurance coverage in ensuring access to cancer screening, diagnosis, and treatment, they highlight solutions related to expansion of health insurance coverage options as part of the Affordable Care Act, including expansion of Medicaid eligibility for adults with and without children. The authors note that after Medicaid expansion in 2014, rural-urban disparities in insurance coverage among newly diagnosed cancer patients age 18 to 64 years were eliminated in Medicaid expansion states, but remained  in nonexpansion states.

In addition, there is currently no national policy requiring state Medicaid programs to cover routine care for clinical trial participants. Lack of coverage is thought to be associated with lower clinical trial participation among Medicaid enrollees in states that do not cover routine care costs.

“Reducing rural cancer disparities will require multilevel interventions, with coordinated efforts at the patient, provider, community, and policy levels. Scientists have been highlighting the need for multilevel approaches to address persistent health disparities for many years,” the researchers wrote.

“Increasing insurance coverage options for rural adults through Medicaid expansion and availability of other coverage options, improving local provider coordination with cancer centers, and creating shared resources and expertise through networks such as the National Cancer Institute Community Oncology Research Program and telemedicine, and developing broader community-based resources to support and promote healthy lifestyles may improve access to cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, and treatment. Coupled with Medicaid coverage of routine care costs for clinical trial participation and travel for care in all states, these efforts may increase trial participation among rural residents and reduce rural cancer disparities.”

Read the full editorial. Its authors are Robin Yabroff, PhD; Xuesong Han, PhD; Jingxuan Zhao, MPH; Leticia Nogueira, PhD, MPH; and Ahmedin Jemal, DVM, PhD. 

*Shared from MySocietySource.

#WorldChocolateDay

ACS is now on TikTok

Submit your TikTok fundraising ideas

We're excited to share that ACS is now on TikTok. In addition to fun content that seeks to entertain and educate, we're asking you to use your TikTok for good.

Starting the week of July 6, a TikTok donation sticker for ACS will be available and 100 percent of donations received on the platform will go to ACS so we can continue attacking cancer from every angle. 

Anyone can use the donate sticker! After creating a TikTok, head to stickers > support nonprofit and select American Cancer Society. And don't forget to follow @AmericanCancerSociety. 

We're looking for ACS content creators, both volunteers and staff, for TikTok. Got the moves or big ideas? Send an email to acstiktok@cancer.org to discuss being featured on the channel.

*Shared from MySocietySource and join the TikTok For The American Cancer Society Facebook group and take the How to use TikTok! training.

Happy #IndependenceDay!

Health Equity and the American Cancer Society

Cancer is a disease that affects everyone, but it doesn’t affect everyone equally. For the American Cancer Society (ACS) and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACSCAN), health equity means everyone has a fair and just opportunity to prevent, find, treat, and survive cancer. We believe no one should be disadvantaged in their fight against cancer because of how much money they make, the color of their skin, their sexual orientation, their gender identity, their disability status, or where they live. Health equity is not a program but rather an approach through which we seek to improve cancer-related outcomes and eliminate cancer disparities.

 

Our goal to reduce cancer deaths cannot be achieved without eliminating disparities in the cancer burden — defined in terms of socioeconomic status (income, education, insurance status, etc.), race/ethnicity, geographic location, and sexual orientation. We are providing training and other educational opportunities for volunteers and staff to deepen their health equity knowledge and skills, which can enhance the integration of health equity in our research priorities, programs, services, and advocacy.  

 

Health Equity work in the West Region:

It’s important to understand that the Society is not the expert on barriers to health equity, but we apply our expertise in examining the data, listening to stories, convening partnerships, helping to discover barriers and needs, and utilizing resources to remove those barriers in a sustainable way.

 

West Region Breast Health Equity projects funded by the NFL:

·         Los Angeles Chargers - Watts Healthcare Corporation, CA

·         Los Angeles Rams - Family Health Centers of San Diego, Inc., CA

·         Oakland Raiders - Marin Community Clinic, CA

·         San Francisco 49ers - Salud Para La Gente, CA

·         Seattle Seahawks - Community Health Care, WA

 

Breast Health Equity project funded by Pfizer:

·         University of Washington

 

The American Cancer Society currently funds 55 multi-year extramural research grants totaling $46.2 million that are focused on health equity. Nine of those grants are located within the West Region:

·         Oregon Health and Science University, Lyle Fagnan, MD - Increasing HPV Immunization Rates: The Rural Adolescent Vaccine Enterprise, $1,854,250.00

·         Kaiser Foundation Research Institute, Candyce Kroenke, ScD, MPH - Race Disparities in Social Networks, and Breast Cancer Treatment, Prognosis, $765,000.00

·         University of Washington, Christoph I. Lee, MD – Advanced Breast Imaging Adoption and Screening Access Among Vulnerable Women, $729,000.00

·         University of California, Los Angeles, Mark S. Litwin, MD, MPH - Men's Experiences Transitioning from Disease-specific to ACA Coverage, $792,000.00

·         University of California, San Diego, Jesse Nodora, DrPH - Colorectal Cancer Screening Strategies for Community Health Centers, $1,738,500.00

·         Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope, Sunita K. Patel, PhD - Reducing Learning and HRQOL Disparities in Latino Children with Cancer, $1,221,000.00

·         University of Southern California, Veronica W. Setiawan, PhD - Determinants of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Pancreatic Cancer Incidence, $594,000.00

·         University of Washington, Rashmi K. Sharma, MD - Racial/Ethnic Differences in Inpatient End-of-life Communication, $722,000.00

·         Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Adriana Vidal, PhD - Race and the Obesity-Prostate Cancer Link, $792,000.00

Annual Discovery Shop ACS CAN Month-long Campaign

Invest in American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS CAN) with a $10 or $25 donation at any local Discovery Shop location this July and receive a 10% or 25% off certificate redeemable on purchases for 30 days. Your donation helps the nation's leading cancer advocacy organization continue working every day to make cancer issues a national priority. You can double the impact when you donate a second time at the end of July and extend your savings for an additional 30 days! Donate. Shop. Save Money. Save Lives. Repeat.

UV Safety Month

Skin cancer is by far the most common cancer in the US. In 2020 alone, an estimated 100,350 cases of melanoma, the most serious form of skin cancer, are expected. Some skin cancers could be prevented by protecting skin from UV exposure outdoors and by avoiding indoor tanning. Learn more about skin cancer and how to protect yourself from the harmful effects of the sun. http://cancer.org/skincancer

#UVSafetyMonth

July is #UVSafetyMonth so make sure to be safe in the sun! Learn about some of the damaging effects that too much ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure can be on the skin along with tips to help you protect yourself and your family from getting too much sun at cancer.org.