Abstract A112: Approaches to addressing cancer mortality disparities in U.S. health organizations: Identifying key themes in collaborative grant projects
Authors: Marlow Emily C. , Wehling Kristen A. , Wysocki Karla L. , Brumlow Dewayne 
Published: December 2023

Background Black men and women facing cancer diagnoses are more likely than White men and women to die from their disease despite similar or lower cancer incidence rates (American Cancer Society Cancer Facts & Figures for African American/Black People 2022-2024). The American Cancer Society (ACS), in partnership with Pfizer Global Medical Grants (Pfizer), provided grant funding and engagement support to 16 projects based in 12 U.S. states and the District of Columbia examining prostate or multi-site cancer disparities along the cancer care continuum. Post hoc interviews by ACS team members were conducted with researchers to identify main themes discovered during their project period. These findings were key takeaways to be utilized in future work related to cancer mortality disparity efforts. Methods From April through June 2023, 16 grant-funded project leads were invited to participate in 30-45 minute qualitative virtual interviews. These semi-structured interviews included questions related to how projects addressed racial disparities in their communities, partnerships with stakeholder groups, and resources and educational materials created. The open-ended questions were adopted to allow for project leads to share their unique perspective and project details they deemed important to address in the cancer disparities research area. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed for accuracy. Three independent coders read and extracted important quotes to identify common themes. Results A total of 15 out of the 16 grant-funded project teams were interviewed, with one interview postponed to outside the study period. Various themes were identified among the project interviews, with most centered around interventions addressing health system on the patient- and provider- levels. The most common interventions and themes identified as ways to bridge the cancer mortality gap in Black and White people include: creating relatable and culturally adaptive educational materials, assistance with transportation and communication barriers, prioritizing patient social needs, utilizing patient navigators to supplement patient support, addressing providers’ unconscious bias and patient mistrust, incorporating artificial intelligence to streamline patient care, and organizing community partnerships to expand  the reach of potential patients and encourage visitation for cancer screenings. Conclusion  These post hoc interviews among grant funded projects highlighted important areas along the cancer care continuum that can be addressed and further studied as ways to decrease the cancer mortality gap between Black and White people. The public-private grants partnership between ACS and Pfizer provided a unique opportunity to explore novel interventions in the field of cancer disparities. This meaningful work can be similarly extended to other health organizations to continue the work in communities across the U.S. in an effort to eliminate racial disparities in cancer outcomes.

Citation Format: Emily C. Marlow, Kristen A. Wehling, Karla L. Wysocki, Dewayne Brumlow. Approaches to addressing cancer mortality disparities in U.S. health organizations: Identifying key themes in collaborative grant projects [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 A112.