Educating the next generation of cancer researchers: Evaluation of a cancer research partnership training program.

African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Hispanic (or Latinx), Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander groups are underrepresented in the biomedical workforce, which is one of the barriers to addressing cancer disparities among minority populations. The creation of a more inclusive biomedical workforce dedicated to reducing the burden of cancer health disparities requires structured, mentored research and cancer-related research exposure during the earlier stages of training. The Summer Cancer Research Institute (SCRI) is a multicomponent 8-week intensive summer program funded under the Partnership between a Minority Serving Institute and a National Institutes of Health-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. In this survey study, we found that students who participated in the SCRI Program reported greater knowledge and interest in pursuing careers in cancer-related fields than their counterparts who did not participate in SCRI. Successes, challenges, and solutions in providing training in cancer and cancer health disparities research to improve diversity in the biomedical fields were also discussed.

Educating the Next Generation of Cancer Researchers: Evaluation of A Cancer Research Partnership Training Program.

African American, American Indian and Alaska Native, Hispanic (or Latinx), Native Hawaiian, and other Pacific Islander groups are underrepresented in the biomedical workforce, which is one of the barriers to addressing cancer disparities among minority populations. The creation of a more inclusive biomedical workforce dedicated to reducing the burden of cancer health disparities requires structured, mentored research and cancer-related research exposure during the earlier stages of training. The Summer Cancer Research Institute (SCRI), a multicomponent 8-week intensive summer program funded under the Partnership between a Minority Serving Institute and a National Institutes of Health-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. This study assessed whether students who participated in the SCRI Program report greater knowledge and interest in pursuing careers in cancer-related fields than their counterparts who did not participate in SCRI. Successes, challenges, and solutions in providing training in cancer and cancer health disparities research to improve diversity in the biomedical fields were also discussed.

Systematic review of neighborhood socioeconomic indices studied across the cancer control continuum.

BACKGROUND: There is extensive interest in understanding how neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES) may affect cancer incidence or survival. However, variability regarding items included and approaches used to form a composite nSES index presents challenges in summarizing overall associations with cancer. Given recent calls for standardized measures of neighborhood sociodemographic effects in cancer disparity research, the objective of this systematic review was to identify and compare existing nSES indices studied across the cancer continuum (incidence, screening, diagnosis, treatment, survival/mortality) and summarize associations by race/ethnicity and cancer site to inform future cancer disparity studies. METHODS: Using PRISMA guidelines, peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2019 containing keywords related to nSES and cancer were identified in PubMed. RESULTS: Twenty-four nSES indices were identified from 75 studies. In general, findings indicated a significant association between nSES and cancer outcomes (n = 64/75 studies; 85.33%), with 42/64 (65.63%) adjusting for highly-correlated individual SES factors (e.g., education). However, the direction of association differed by cancer site, race/ethnicity, and nSES index. CONCLUSIONS: This review highlights several methodologic and conceptual issues surrounding nSES measurement and potential associations with cancer disparities. Recommendations pertaining to the selection of nSES measures are provided, which may help inform disparity-related disease processes and improve the identification of vulnerable populations in need of intervention.

The role of trust in HPV vaccine uptake among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States: a narrative review.

Despite the clinically proven benefits of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine in preventing cervical and other HPV-associated cancers, vaccination coverage has been suboptimal among adolescents and young adults in the United States (US), particularly among racial and ethnic minority adolescents. Historical legacies, combined with current racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare, may contribute to suboptimal uptake and completion of the HPV vaccine in part through differing levels of trust in doctors and healthcare institutions. The purpose of this narrative review was to characterize trust and its role in decision making about HPV vaccine uptake among US racial and ethnic minorities. We conducted a literature search using the PubMed database, and our search terms yielded 1176 articles. We reviewed 41 full-text articles for eligibility and included 20 articles in this review. These studies used varied measures of trust or mistrust and assessed trust in not only doctors/healthcare providers, but also other sources including pharmaceutical companies, media, and clergy. Our review findings revealed generally high levels of trust in doctors and healthcare providers, but less so in pharmaceutical companies. Mistrust of either healthcare providers, government agencies or pharmaceutical companies was consistently associated with less favorable attitudes and lower vaccine uptake. The downstream effects of mistrust may occur through selected health beliefs regarding the perceived efficacy and safety of the vaccine. Minority groups were more likely to report trust in family members, religious organizations, and media sources compared to their white counterparts. Decision making about vaccine uptake is a multilayered process that involves comparing the perceived benefits of the vaccine against its perceived risks. Understanding how trusted sources can effectively harness the tools of social and traditional media to increase knowledge and awareness may help combat misinformation about the HPV vaccine and improve engagement with diverse communities.

Astragalus polysaccharide and oxymatrine can synergistically improve the immune efficacy of Newcastle disease vaccine in chicken.

Three hundred and sixty 14-day-old chickens were divided into seven groups. The chickens, except for blank control group, were vaccinated with Newcastle disease vaccine, repeated at 28 days old. At the same time of the first vaccination, the chickens in three astragalus polysaccharide-oxymatrine (AP-OM) groups were orally administrated respectively with the mixture of AP-OM at high, medium and low concentrations, in astragalus polysaccharide (AP) group and oxymatrine (OM) group, with corresponding medicine, in non-medicine (NM) control group, with equal volume of physiological saline, once a day for 3 successive days. On 14, 21, 28, 35 and 42 days after the first vaccination, the changes of peripheral lymphocyte proliferation and serum antibody titers of the chickens were determined by MTT method and hemagglutination inhibition test. On 14, 28 and 42 days after the first vaccination, the serum IL-2 concentration was determined by Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). The results showed that at most time points, the lymphocyte proliferation, antibody titers and IL-2 concentrations of 5 medicine-administrating groups were significantly higher than that of corresponding NM group. At some time points, the lymphocyte proliferation, antibody titers and IL-2 concentrations in high and medium doses of AP-OM groups were significantly or numberly higher than those in AP group and OM group. It indicated that AP-OM could significantly improve the immune efficacy of Newcastle disease vaccine, astragalus polysaccharide and oxymatrine possessed synergistical immunoenhancement.