California Oncology Research Institute

CALIFORNIA ONCOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (CORI) FUNDED EDUCATIONAL EVENTS AND FREE CANCER SCREENINGS IN THE INNER CITY. THESE EVENTS HAVE BEEN EXPANDED TO INCLUDE PSYCHOSOCIAL SUPPORT AND CANCER PREVENTION TRAINING. THE OUTREACH ACTIVITIES HAVE ALSO BEEN EXPANDED TO INCLUDE YOUTH ORGANIZATIONS SUCH AS THE DREAM CENTER (AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION DEVOTED TO HELPING YOUNG INDIVIDUALS AND COMMUNITIES IN NEED). CORI DOCTORS WHO VOLUNTEER THEIR TIME HAVE EITHER EDUCATED OR PROVIDED FREE CANCER SCREENINGS TO MORE THAN 300,000 PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THE GREATER LOS ANGELES AREA. AS A RESULT, CORI WAS RECOGNIZED BY THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES FOR THIS WORK.DURING THE 2023 YEAR CORI CO-SPONSORED THREE EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH AND CANCER SCREENING EVENTS WITH COMMUNITY PARTNER FIGHTING AGAINST CANCER FOR EVERYONE IN THE SPIRIT (FACES). SATURDAY JUNE 3, 2023 CORI AND FACES HELD AN ANNUAL PROSTATE CANCER AWARENESS AND SHINGLES EVENT CENTERED ON "KNOWLEDGE IS POWER". THIS EVENT WAS OPEN TO THE COMMUNITY AND HOSTED AT INGLEWOOD SOUTHSIDE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. MULTITALENTED ACTOR/PRODUCER AND PROSTATE CANCER SURVIVOR ALONZO "LONZO" WILLIAMS SERVED AS THE EVENT MASTER OF CEREMONY. DR. ANTON BILCHIK GAVE AN OVERVIEW OF CORI AND SHARED WITH THE AUDIENCE THE IMPORTANCE OF REGULAR CANCER SCREENINGS AND HOW THESE TESTS HELP TO DETECT CANCER EARLY AND SAVE LIVES. DR. JENNIFER LINEHAN WAS THE SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER AND DELIVERED A PRESENTATION ON PROSTATE CANCER. ESTABAN ESPINOZA WITH THE LA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH GAVE A BRIEF PRESENTATION ON SHINGLES. FREDDIE MUSE JR - FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF THE MEN'S CANCER NETWORK INC., A TWO TIME PROSTATE CANCER SURVIVOR, GAVE A TESTIMONIAL AND AN OVERVIEW OF THE CANCER WELLNESS HUB SURVEY AND AN INFOGRAPHIC SHEET THAT SHOWED THE VARIOUS CANCER SIGNS, AND SYMPTOMS AND THE SCREENINGS ASSOCIATED WITH EACH. THE EVENT WAS A GREAT SUSCESS WITH OVER 80 PEOPLE ATTENDING. DR. LINEHAN'S PRESENTATION WAS FILMED AND CAN BE VIEWED ONLINE ON THE CORI WEBSITE.ON AUGUST 19, 2023 CORI CO-SPONSORED AN ALOPECIA AND PSORIASIS AWARENESS EVENT HELD AT THE INGLEWOOD SOUTHSIDE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. PEYTON HEMANN GAVE A PRESENTATION ON ALOPECIA AND LESHA TICKNOR AND LEANDRA DOAN GAVE A PRESENTATION ON PSORIASIS. ANGELA STEWART GAVE A TESTIMONIAL ABOUT HER HAIR LOSS JOURNEY AND BATTLING ALOPECIA. MASTER STYLIST PATRICE DANIELS GAVE A VERY INFORMATIVE PRESENTATION ON PROTECTIVE HAIR STYLES, PROPER HAIR CARE AND HOW TO RESTORE DAMAGED HAIR AND HAIR LOSS. THIS EVENT WAS ATTENDED BY MORE THAN 100 WOMEN.ON OCTOBER 7, 2023 CORI AND FACES HELD A BREAST CANCER AWARENESS AND HEALTH SCREENING EVENT AT INGLEWOOD SOUTHSIDE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. THIS YEAR'S THEME WAS CENTERED ON EMPOWERING FAMILY HEALTH. DR. LA SHAWN DENISE WITT WAS THE MISTRESS OF CEREMONY. DR. CRYSTAL FRANCHER, BREAST SURGICAL ONCOLOGIST, WAS THE SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER. SHE GAVE A PRESENTATION ENTITLED, "BREAST CANCER AWARENESS: FROM BASICS TO BEYOND THE PINK RIBBONS". HER PRESENTATION TOUCHED ON PREVENTION, EARLY DETECTION, SCREENING, SYMPTOMS ETC. DR. ANTON BILCHIK GAVE AN OVERVIEW OF CORI AND THE IMPORTANCE OF CANCER SCREENINGS. LA COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATORS ASENIQ SHAHID-WILLIAMS AND VICTORIA JONES GAVE A PRESENTATION ON SHINGLES AND HOW TO PREVENT THE DISEASE. CANCER SURVIVORS LORETTA RANDALL, DANA HOLMES AND DENISE WASHINGTON GAVE TESTIMONIALS ABOUT THEIR CANCER JOURNEYS AND THE LIFESTYLE CHANGES THEY HAVE ADOPTED. FREE BLOOD PRESSURE SCREENINGS WERE PROVIDED BY AN AFRICAN AMERICAN NURSING SORORITY GROUP. THIS GREAT EVENT HAD 125 MEN AND WOMEN IN ATTENDANCE. THE VIDEO OF THIS EVENT IS BEING POSTED TO THE CORI WEBSITE AS WELL AS YOUTUBE.IN ADDITION TO COMMUNITY EVENTS CORI IS CONDUCTING RESEARCH:At over 50,000 deaths per year, colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most common cause of cancer deaths in the US and disproportionately impacts medically underserved racial/ethnic minority communities. Colorectal cancer incidence and deaths are highest in Black Americans, followed closely by American Indians/Alaska Natives and lowest in Asians/Pacific Islanders. Furthermore, people with the lowest socioeconomic status are 40% more likely to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer than those with the highest socioeconomic status. New colorectal cancer screening recommendations lower the age from 50 to 45 for individuals at average risk for colorectal cancer. Raising awareness for colorectal cancer and screening options in underserved communities remains critical. To do so will require sustained and innovative efforts from health care providers and researchers, creating networks of key opinion leaders in the local communities while making screening and prevention services affordable, easy to obtain, and widespread. Screening for colorectal cancer (CRC) reduces the chances of dying from CRC, reducing both incidence and mortality of the disease by detecting precancerous and cancerous lesions. In total, about 50% of the decline in CRC between 1975 and 2000 is attributed to screening. But low income and racial/ethnic minority individuals have not been offered screening in effective numbers, resulting in higher death rates in these groups. Mysteriously, in the last 5 years there has been a 4-5 fold increase in the number of early-onset CRC cases in young people (under 50 years of age) and the reason for this is still unknown. This is a serious health crisis as the younger generation is being affected with no known cause. All these national patterns hold true in California, and more specifically, the Los Angeles area. Only 61.5% of Californians have received a colonoscopy in the past 10 years, and only 22% have received a blood or stool test in the last year. In Los Angeles, 64.1% of community members had a CRC screening.Access to effective screening and early treatment programs are the best hope to serve all patients with CRC. Compounding existing inequities, patients at risk for the worst CRC outcomes are less likely to participate in research focused on improving early detection methods and precision prevention (i.e., development of new biological and genetic markers for CRC and its precursors in blood and stool samples). CRC screening rates are the worst in populations of people with lower levels of higher education and income. These individuals also do not have health insurance and lack access to adequate healthcare facilities and are typically from racial/ethnicity minority backgrounds. In addition to increasing screening rates among younger people of color, it is also important to conduct research to understand the cause of the disproportionate increase in CRC, especially among younger Black Americans. The study of tissue using a multi-omics platform can help us better understand the causes of the increase in CRC in this community and potentially identify targets for treatment.Accordingly, California Oncology Research Institute (CORI) in collaboration with Providence Saint Johns Cancer Institute, and Providence Health Research Accelerator (HRA) are conducting research to pinpoint and address unique local needs of minority and medically underserved communities and turn participating at-risk communities into "zones" with high rates of colorectal cancer screening. The research provides colorectal cancer testing and study samples collected via approved tests for colorectal cancer, including colonoscopy, CT colonography, flexible sigmoidoscopy, and at-home stool tests that analyze fecal DNA and/or blood. In doing so the research will provide significantly enhanced opportunities for residents to participate in CRC screenings, while research will develop better approaches to colorectal cancer interception for racial and ethnic minority patients generally.