SAN ANTONIO – With cancer rates rising among Latinos, leaders at UT Health San Antonio and national cancer experts have published an online book with recommendations to help people fight cancer.
The 93-page book, “Advancing the Science of Cancer in Latinos: 2024 Conference Proceedings,” can be found here. The book includes the results of a 2024 conference that brought 300 researchers, advocates and cancer survivors to San Antonio.
“This book is a compilation of the research that we learned, and we developed it in a way that’s easy for people to read through, and also access information and get new ideas in terms of where new research needs to go,” said Dr. Amelie Ramirez, a researcher at UT Health San Antonio.
Ramirez hopes people with a history of family cancer follow its recommendations for prevention.
“[Things like], going in for your preventative screenings. ‘Is your weight in check?’ And, if not, ‘what are you trying to do [about it]?’ Because we’re finding that obesity is a major contributor to cancer,” Ramirez said.
Last fall, KSAT held a town hall with leaders like Ramirez to discuss high rates of cancer in the Latino community. The town hall can be watched below.
Ramirez said one of the reasons Latino cancer patients are at a disadvantage is because they tend to be underrepresented in major cancer studies.
“Without their representations in studies, we cannot improve what we have to offer,” Ramirez said. “And they need to know that medications are based on the new development of medications that are coming out are based in people who participate in clinical studies or medical studies.”
Ramirez is currently organizing a study to address those concerns. She is looking for Latino cancer survivors who have battled the disease in the last 10 years, are no longer in treatment and are 18 years of age or older.
Participants can meet with researchers via Zoom. Anyone who would like to join the Avanzando Caminos study can click here to register.
