While cancer can affect anyone, it doesn’t affect everyone equally. In the United States, people of color face an even greater cancer burden than their white counterparts due to disparities in prevention, detection, treatment and survival. Black/African American and Latino communities experience some of the lowest cancer survival rates of all ethnic groups due to several barriers to equitable care, including systemic racism and a lack of access to resources.1
In order to challenge barriers to better health, whether they be societal, structural, or research-based, Amgen has teamed up with the American Cancer Society (ACS) and The Players’ Tribune to launch a new content series called “Fight the Fight.” This series brings together notable athletes to share their personal experiences with cancer and how they are striving to promote health equity.
Most recently, former NFL linebacker, author and host of the series “Uncomfortable Conversations with a Black Man” Emmanuel Acho sat down with Dr. Robert Winn, ACS board member and director of the VCU Massey Cancer Center, for a frank discussion about healthcare disparities in cancer and how we can work together to achieve equitable outcomes for people of color. Their discussion is now available as a three-part series centered on key topics related to the fight for equality in cancer care:
- Part I: Recent progress in cancer treatment
- Part II: Diversity in clinical trials and mending historic distrust
- Part III: Taking action to break barriers to equal care
“As we continue to deliver transformative medicines that can help change expectations of cancer outcomes, it’s critical that we reach the patients who need them most, including those in historically underserved communities,” said I-Fen Chang, Vice President, Global Therapeutic Area Head, Oncology Medical at Amgen. “We are committed to breaking barriers to achieve health equity in cancer, and one way we’re working to do this is by raising awareness of health disparities, actions to take and the importance of improving diversity and achieving representation in clinical trials.”
In October 2020, Amgen launched the Representation in Clinical Research (RISE) program to create greater equity related to clinical trial diversity. The RISE team is working with key groups across Amgen and externally, including in historically marginalized communities, to diversify clinical trial investigators and remove barriers for patients to participate in clinical trials. Learn more about Amgen’s commitment to addressing health equity here, and register here for our upcoming 2022 Health Equity Summit.
Be sure to watch the full “Fight the Fight” series to hear from athletes who have been personally impacted by cancer, including NBA point guards Ricky Rubio and De’Aaron Fox, and former NFL cornerback Johnathan Joseph. For more information on the Fight the Fight series, visit www.cancer.org.
- Cancer disparities. National Cancer Institute. Retrieved February 2022 from https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/understanding/disparities.
