President’s Cancer Panel Studies Demographic and Cultural Aspects of the U.S. Cancer Enterprise

Despite steady improvements in the overall health of the U.S. population, ethnic sub-populations experience higher rates of disease morbidity and mortality than the mainstream. The reasons for these health disparities are complex and poorly understood.

To attempt to learn more about this critical topic, the President's Cancer Panel (PCP) will hold a series of meetings over the next several months, to carefully review various demographic and cultural changes in the United States, and the implications this transformation may have on the nation's cancer enterprise. The topic is a timely one: minorities, now roughly one-third of the U.S. population, are expected to become the majority in 2042.

The PCP formally dates from 1971, when it was created by Section 407 of P.L. 92-218, the "War on Cancer" Act, to monitor the development and execution of the National Cancer Program. It has a mandate to report directly to the President. Each year, the Panel looks at a different aspect of cancer, reviews the scientific evidence, and reports back to the President.

During upcoming meetings, the PCP will address the implications for U.S. cancer research and care as the proportion of ethnic sub-populations increase in the coming decades.

Meetings of the Panel are open to the public and no registration is required. In fact, the PCP encourages health care experts, representatives of scientific and cancer-related organizations as well as public health agencies and patients to attend. Upcoming meeting dates and locations are:

Oct. 27, 2009
Omni Los Angeles Hotel at California Plaza - Los Angeles, CA

Dec. 9, 2009
Double Tree Hotel Wilmington Downtown - Wilmington, DE

Feb. 2, 2010
Marriott Biscayne Bay Hotel & Marina - Miami, FL

Members of the LRF Advocacy Program who are interested in attending one of the upcoming meetings are encouraged to contact LRF at advocacy@lymphoma.org for additional meeting details.