PROFESSIONNews in brief - June 8, 2009Hurricane relief provided to medical students - Black women may decline breast cancer treatment Hurricane relief provided to medical studentsThe Texas Medical Assn. Foundation has received nearly $70,000 to distribute among the 1,000 medical students from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston who had their lives upended when Hurricane Ike struck Sept. 13, 2008. The hurricane hit land just east of Galveston Island with winds of more than 100 miles per hour, causing widespread devastation. Dozens of medical students had to find other housing and then work with contractors to rebuild their homes. Many said the ordeal exhausted their savings. "The TMA Foundation is thrilled to funnel the [money donated by] physicians, medical students and others to help these future doctors get back on their feet and back to studying medicine," TMA Foundation President Dennis J. Factor, MD, said in a statement. Black women may decline breast cancer treatmentNearly one in four African-American women with late-stage breast cancer refused potentially life-saving therapies, according to a study published online May 22 by Cancer, a journal of the American Cancer Society (www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122400158/). The study is scheduled to appear in the journal's July 1 print issue. Researchers from Emory University School of Medicine and Emory's Avon Foundation Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center at Grady Memorial Hospital, both in Atlanta, identified 107 women who had been diagnosed with and/or treated for stage III breast cancer at the hospital. African-American women in the United States have nearly twice the rate of advanced breast cancer as white women, researchers said. Although why these women refused treatment was unclear, researchers suggested the reasons could include socioeconomic and demographic factors, cultural beliefs, health care access and patient choice. To encourage compliance with recommended treatment, which includes chemotherapy and radiation, the researchers implemented a community outreach program at their institutions. The program includes a nurse practitioner and a social worker who work with patients during treatment. Copyright 2009 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. |
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