By Ji Hyun Lim
Susan Shinagawa sought a specialist for a biopsy. Doctors brushed her off, however. Despite her negative mammogram, she was concerned because she felt a lump in her breast. Nevertheless, her physician was convinced that women of Asian descent weren’t at risk for breast cancer.
In 1991, Shinagawa was diagnosed with breast cancer. Today, she is a breast cancer survivor. And she has dedicated her life to educating the public.
But to do that more effectively, Shinagawa and other activists say more studies specifically targeting API communities need to be done. To that end, Society for Women’s Health Research (SWHR) is pushing for Asian American women to participate in research projects. SWHR has teamed up with organizations, such as the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advocate and promote clinical trials for API women.
API women have been the least active in such studies. Katherine Kim, a nurse and professor of Grand Valley State University in Michigan, said many Asian American women are afraid to participate in clinical trials and, she added, they don’t understand the value of such studies.
“It is important we educate people so we can have the correct information,” Kim said.
The studies that have been done show disease risk factors in API women are different than those in other ethnic populations. Moreover, Asian American women who immigrate to the United States are found to have an 80 percent higher risk for breast cancer compared to their native Asian counterparts. And Vietnamese American women are five times more likely to develop cervical cancer than white women, while Hawaiian women have breast cancer at 1.5 times the rate of white females.
Participation in clinical trials is purely voluntary with no monetary compensation. The participant signs a consent and release form. Usually, subjects are included in three clinical trials phases: 1) looking for adverse side effects; 2) increasing dosage to test for safety; and 3) comparing two or more drugs and determining their effectiveness.
In the area of breast cancer prevention in women with high risk, two drugs — Tamoxifen and Raloxifene — are currently being compared for effectiveness. The STAR trials (Study of Tamoxifen And Raloxifene) are exploring whether Raloxifene, which is used for osteoporosis, decreases breast cancer incidences. Tamoxifen, which has an anti-estrogen property, is already considered a breast cancer prevention drug.
Margie Kagawa-Singer, oncology nurse and instructor at UCLA School of Public Health, said healthy subjects — in particular, API women — are sought in prevention trials like STAR.
“Our best protection is knowledge and information,” Kagawa-Singer said.
For information, you can call 1-877-33CanDo (1-877-332-2636) or go to www.WomanCanDo.org. |
