Abstract B044: Avanzando Caminos (Leading Pathways): The Hispanic/Latino cancer survivorship cohort study
Authors: Ramirez Amelie G. , Chalela Patricia , Rowan Stephanie , Lew Ysabel R. , Garza Victoria C. , Rodriguez Natalie , Gonzalez Myriam N. , Ortiz Britney E. , Parma Dorothy Long , Muñoz Edgar , Chen Yidong , Wang Chen-Pin , Duque Adolfo E. Diaz , Garcini Luz M. , Perdomo Dolores M. , Beltran Stefanie V. , de Oca Gabrielle Montes , Baraya Maria , Natori Akina , Krause Madeline H. , Pinheiro Paulo S. , Moreno Patricia I. , Antoni Michael H. , Calfa Carmen , Carrasquillo Olveen , Lopes Gilberto , Cole Steve , Penedo Frank J. 
Published: December 2023

Background: Advances in prevention, early detection, and treatment have resulted in a 29% reduction in cancer mortality since 1990 and unprecedented increases in the number of cancer survivors. There are more than 16.9M survivors living in the US today and 22.1M are expected by 2030. Cancer survivorship outcomes vary by race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and more. Cancer is the leading cause of deaths in Hispanics/Latinos (H/Ls), a critical issue given that H/Ls are the largest ethnic minority group in the US and will account for 30% of the US population by 2060. H/Ls are disproportionately impacted by cancer due to inequities in SES and healthcare access, which leads to differences in risk factors/exposures and barriers to high-quality cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment. Although H/Ls have lower incidence rates for most common cancer types, significant disparities exist in prevalence, invasiveness, and mortality in specific cancers and across multiple patient-reported outcomes, such as quality of life and symptom burden. However, there is limited work documenting survivorship experiences among H/Ls. Purpose: The Avanzando Caminos multisite cohort study was established to address critical gaps in the science of H/L survivorship. It aims to examine the influence of sociocultural, medical, stress, psychosocial, lifestyle, behavioral, and biological factors on symptom burden, health-related quality of life, and clinical outcomes among H/Ls who have been previously treated for cancer. Methods: Avanzando Caminos, a collaboration between the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami and the Mays Cancer Center at UT Health San Antonio, is a 6-year prospective, cohort-based study of 3,000 H/Ls (1,500 in South Florida and 1,500 in South Texas) who completed primary cancer treatment within the past five years for stomach, liver, cervical, colorectal, lung, breast, kidney, or prostate cancers. Participants will complete self-report measures at baseline, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 4 years, and 5 years. Blood draws to assess leukocyte gene expression, cardiometabolic markers, and genetic admixture will be collected at baseline, 1 year, 3 years, and 5 years. Medical and cancer characteristics and clinical outcomes will be extracted from the electronic medical record and/or state cancer registry at each time point. Data analysis will include general latent variable modeling with maximum likelihood robust variance estimation. Results: So far, we have recruited 398 H/L participants with a mean age of 59.49 years, 62% are female, 35% are Mexican, 57% Cuban, 24% Central/South American, 78% Puerto Rican, and 7% other. Preliminary results will include sociocultural, quality of life, stress, and other factors impacting H/Ls survivors. Conclusions: Avanzando Caminos is expected to fill critical gaps in knowledge to guide future secondary and tertiary prevention efforts to mitigate cancer disparities and optimize health-related quality of life among Hispanic/Latino cancer survivors.

Citation Format: Amelie G. Ramirez, Patricia Chalela, Stephanie Rowan, Ysabel R. Lew, Victoria C. Garza, Natalie Rodriguez, Myriam N. Gonzalez, Britney E. Ortiz, Dorothy Long Parma, Edgar Muñoz, Yidong Chen, Chen-Pin Wang, Adolfo E. Diaz Duque, Luz M. Garcini, Dolores M. Perdomo, Stefanie V. Beltran, Gabrielle Montes de Oca, Maria Baraya, Akina Natori, Madeline H. Krause, Paulo S. Pinheiro, Patricia I. Moreno, Michael H. Antoni, Carmen Calfa, Olveen Carrasquillo, Gilberto Lopes, Steve Cole, Frank J. Penedo. Avanzando Caminos (Leading Pathways): The Hispanic/Latino cancer survivorship cohort study [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr B044.