Abstract PO-059: Educational program to reduce cancer health disparities in breast cancer prevention and screening
Authors: Belleggia Giuliana , Andrews Rebecca 
Published: December 2020

Breast cancer is one of the most common cancers in women in the U.S. and around the world. In the United States in 2017, 250,520 new cases of female breast cancer were diagnosed, and 42,000 women died from breast cancer. It is well known that lifestyle impacts human health. By making healthy lifestyle choices, a person can reduce the risk to develop cancer. For the past two decades, obesity, consumption of alcoholic beverages, and sedentary behavior has been linked to an increased risk of developing breast cancer. In case we cannot prevent the cancer, mammogram screening can help detect the cancer at an early stage. Early detection of breast cancer is correlated with a better prognosis and less invasive treatment. According to Healthy People 2020 report, uninsured women had the lowest breast cancer screening rate, and none of all the other categories, except women with advanced educational degrees, met the target for breast cancer screening of 81.1%. In Connecticut, 14% of women between 50 and 74 years old did not receive a mammography in the past two years. In the United States, 7% of cancer deaths are attributable to obesity, and adult obesity prevalence increased in recent years, highlighting disparities by race-ethnicity and socio-economic status. In Connecticut, a recent report shows that, from 2016 to 2018, 37% of non-Hispanic Black adults self- reported obesity, compared to 32% of Hispanic and 25.2% of non-Hispanic white. In 2016, 25% of women in Connecticut were Obese (with a BMI of 30 or higher), affecting an estimated 320,000 women. Based on this data, we started an educational program aimed to increase awareness regarding modifiable risk factors for breast cancer, such as overweight and obesity, alcohol consumption, and low physical activity, and to increase the participation to breast cancer screening. Since February 2020, every woman age of 50 and older, coming to the clinic for any medical reasons, with a BMI equal or greater than 25, received a 20-30 minutes individual educational session. Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the program was temporally suspended in March and it has recently restarted. Data is still being collected. At the end of the session, the patient received some informational material to bring home. The material includes fact-sheets, list of behavioral strategies, and tools to use at home, to support their effort to change lifestyle- related risk behaviors. Supplemental materials include weekly charts and tables to track the progress of weight management, alcohol consumption and PA. The aim of this program is to educate women, with attention to those racial/ethnic groups that are more affected by health disparities, recognize their level of risk for breast cancer, recognize and make healthy food and beverage choices, increase the level of physical activity, and increase the participation to cancer screenings that can help them to reduce the burden of cancer if it is detected early. It is also an opportunity to identify those women more at risk and help them to get in contact with the resources they need.

Citation Format: Giuliana Belleggia, Rebecca Andrews. Educational program to reduce cancer health disparities in breast cancer prevention and screening [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Virtual Conference: Thirteenth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2020 Oct 2-4. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2020;29(12 Suppl):Abstract nr PO-059.