The Unequal Burden of Cancer: An Assessment of NIH Research and Programs for Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved (1999)

In response to the Institute of Medicine Committee on Cancer Research Among Minorities and the Medically Underserved, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) provide the following background material related to cancer survivorship:

• Description of the Office of Cancer Survivorship, which was established in August 1996. The document indicates that there are currently 126 grants that deal with special populations and the medically underserved, 80 percent of which are R01 investigator-initiated grants. Since 1994, all NCI grants are evaluated in the review process to ensure the inclusion of women and minorities. (Indeed, the PHS 398 form used for NIH grant applications has sections asking investigators to demonstrate inclusion of women and minorities.) However, no data on the actual breakdown of women and minorities targeted in funded grants are available. For instance, virtually all breast cancer research will target women. However, it is not clear to what degree such research targets minority and medically underserved women.
• Activities with advocacy and voluntary organizations.
• A current program announcement entitled Cancer Survivorship Studies in Established Epidemiologic Cohorts (PA-98-027).
• Agenda for a conference entitled Research Issues in Cancer Survivorship, sponsored by the Office of Cancer Survivorship, Division of Cancer Control and Populations Sciences, on March 9–10, 1998.

• Background information from the NCI World Wide Web page on Creating the Director's Consumer Liaison Group, established in 1997. It is not clear how specifically these groups include targeted minority groups.
• A list of 850 scientific journal publications resulting from awards or programs of NIH relative to cancer among minority and medically underserved population since 1985.