Very low income and underserved women in or near Tucson, Arizona will be able to get follow-up care if they have received abnormal screenings for cervical cancer.

Grant Awarded
A grant has been awarded by the American Cancer Society to Dr. Jesse Nodora, who is a researcher with the Arizona Cancer Center (AZCC) in Tucson, whose main focus is to help women who are in a very low income and underserved bracket obtain quicker follow-up care and diagnosis. This decreases the progression of the disease by catching it early, thereby decreasing and/or eliminating other health issues relative to cervical cancer .

Patient Navigation Program
A patient navigation program will be established in a community health center environment and will:

Assist women with setting up appointments
Referrals for diagnostic tests
Provide reminders for appointments
Coordinate transportation
Provide interpretation and support during visits
Offer health literacy education
Assistance with scheduling follow-up and related appointments

Screening for Early Detection
In the U.S. more than 60% of women who develop cervical cancer are underserved and underscreened due to lack of funds, and most, according to Nodora fall witin very low-income Hispanic/ethnic groups. So this new program is good news for you if you live in the Tucson area, or know someone who does. I personally have been to this medical center, and I highly recommend it. To see if you quality for this program, contact the Arizona Cancer Center.

Prevention is a part you can play in at home, by eating a healthy diet and getting proper exercise, which decreases the risk of getting cancer by 30%.

Arizona Cancer Center
When you visit the home page, click News & Media/Media, and you will be able to listen to Patient Stories, real people who are survivors telling about their experiences and advocacy. You can also watch as experts in their field discuss their latest research and findings. Also, if you are studying in the medical field, they even have a place that you can access called iTunesU where you can follow lectures and seminar series for free. And if that wasn't enough, you can listen to podcasts of their radio program called Cancer Fighters, that airs live weekly with the latest news and talk.

Some of these are video, and some are audio. Well worth checking out!