Abstract C18: The burden of cancer in indigenous people globally and the World Indigenous Cancer Conference 2016 (WICC16)
Authors: Moore Suzanne P. , Morris Bronwyn , Cunningham Joan , Garvey Gail 
Published: May 2016

Introduction: Cancer prognosis for Indigenous peoples, who represented 6% of the world population, is largely unknown. The rights of indigenous people, including their right to equality in health, have become a focus of the U.N. and other agencies, but little attention has been given to their cancer burden. Data from countries such as Australia, New Zealand Canada, and the United States, which have relatively well resourced cancer registries, show that cancer is now the second leading cause of death among Indigenous people in those countries. Greater understanding of the burden of cancer among indigenous populations is of major importance to public health, given that poorer outcomes contribute to the lower life expectancies.

Methods: We conducted an overview of the literature surrounding cancer burden, including screening, epidemiology, treatment and survivor-ship among indigenous people globally.

Results: Globally, the research work has been piecemeal and focused on the colonized inhabitants of the four former British or French colonies with higher Human Development Indexes (HDI), namely Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States (U.S.). Overall, cancer incidence and mortality among Indigenous Australians is greater and survival is significantly poorer than among non-Indigenous Australians, as is the case among Maori in New Zealand. First Nations people in Ontario are reported to have poorer survival for breast, prostate, cervical, colorectal (male and female) and male lung cancers compared to their non-First Nations peers and cancer mortality is higher for both American Indian and Alaska Native than for U.S. Whites. Maori women and Indigenous Australian women are less likely to participate in National Screening Programs; the rate of mammography in the latter group are 36% for Indigenous women and 55% for non-Indigenous women and rates of cervical screening in Maori women are also lower. There has been a dearth of research into the cancer burden of Indigenous people in other regions.

The dearth of information, and lack of international collaboration, highlighted the need for an international multidisciplinary meeting, inviting participation from researchers, public health practitioners, clinicians, nurses, advocacy groups, allied health professionals, and related professionals from around the globe.

The World Indigenous Cancer Conference 2016 will provide opportunities to foster new collaboration, enhance capacity and increase knowledge about cancer and Indigenous people nationally and internationally. Networks and partnerships can bring together the combined expertise and efforts of many to focus on the critical challenge of cancer among Indigenous peoples. By enabling those who work in or are interested in this area to connect, communicate and collaborate, this conference will encourage high quality cancer research and partnerships across the spectrum of cancer among indigenous people: from prevention, to psycho-social and health services research aimed at improving the quality of life for survivors, their family and friends. The conference will contain a number of streams including ‘Screening and Prevention’, ‘Cancer Data’, ‘Health Services’, ‘Psycho-social/survivorship’ and ‘Advocacy and capacity building’

Conclusion: Establishing networks and partnerships is an important method to raising the profile and addressing cancer disparities. Our aim is to overcome inequalities in cancer care for Indigenous peoples through the establishment of international collaborations of researchers with experience in areas such as epidemiology of chronic disease, social determinants of health, and health systems research.

Citation Format: Suzanne P. Moore, Bronwyn Morris, Joan Cunningham, Gail Garvey. The burden of cancer in indigenous people globally and the World Indigenous Cancer Conference 2016 (WICC16). [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Eighth AACR Conference on The Science of Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; Nov 13-16, 2015; Atlanta, GA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2016;25(3 Suppl):Abstract nr C18.