Fashionable fundraiser fosters cancer research
GRANT: Proceeds will go toward scholarships for undergrad, grad interns
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| Courtesy of Steve I. Bae | ||
| Chi Alpha Delta members (from left) Audrey Chon, Kimey Ung, Nikki Kodama and Annie Chang pose with MC Sam Louie at the first annual fashion show to raise money for cancer awareness. | ||
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Daily Bruin Reporter
According to the National Center for Health Statistics, cancer death rates for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have increased more than 200 percent between 1980 and 1993.
Yet, AAPI subgroups historically have received the least attention, study and treatment from the U.S. government.
"A lot of people have the misconception that Asians aren't at risk of developing cancer, but in actuality that's false," said UCLA Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training project director Koy Parada. "It's the leading cause for Asian American females and the second cause of death for males."
But a group of UCLA community members hoped to change that on Sunday.
More than 300 alumni, community leaders and members of the Asian Greek Counsel came together at the Omni Hotel in Los Angeles to celebrate Chi Alpha Delta sorority's first annual "Timeless Fashion Show" to raise awareness of the growing dangers of cancer among the Asian American/Pacific Islander population.
Funded by the National Cancer Institute Special Populations' Network, the AANCART grant is the first national effort to develop programs and clinical studies targeting specific sites in New York, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The five-year grant awarded last year will earmark more than $7 million among the consortiums, and will provide more than $1 million for UCLA research and community outreach.
Funds raised by UCLA's Chi Alpha Delta fashion show will go to scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students interested in internships with AANCART.
"We were looking for something that can incorporate students, community leaders and our alumni and we felt that a fashion show was just a really great way to do that," said fourth-year mechanical engineering student and Chi Alpha Delta president Nikki Kodama.
While lung, colorectal, breast and prostate cancers rate as top cancer killers of the general American population, liver and stomach cancers remain the third and fourth highest causes of death among the AAPI community respectively, according to the AANCART Web site.
Southeast Asians also have an 18 percent higher rate of lung cancer occurrence than whites, according to AANCART.
Variances such as this in cancer types only warrant more research specific to Asian Americans.
Gaps in research
Researchers historically lump various AAPI groups into one category, thus overlooking the disparity that exists among the ethnic subgroups, said Roshan Bastani, associate professor at the UCLA School of Public Health and associate director of the division of cancer prevention and control.
For example, the highest rates of liver cancer has been found in Vietnamese men, while Japanese men have a very high risk in developing prostate cancer, Bastani said.
Although breast and cervical cancer rates are about 25 percent lower in Asian and Pacific Islander countries, studies have shown that cancer rates in Asian American and Pacific Islander women come close to the rates of white women within 10 years of living in the U.S.
According to a study conducted by UCLA School of Public Health's Department of Community Health Sciences assistant professor Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, cancer rates among Japanese Americans are three times higher than the rate for the newer Korean American immigrant group. Established generations of AAPI subgroups like Japanese Americans have cancer rates close to the general population.
Environment and diet changes maybe the cause of these rates, Kagawa-Singer said.
"The more Westernized the diet becomes, the more Westernized the patterns of cancer," she said.
Model minority misconceptions
The image of Asian Americans as the model minority often sweeps the rising problem of cancer under the rug.
"AAPIs are not seen as needy communities compared to the Hispanic or African American communities," Bastani said. "Popular media doesn't pick up on that."
"You don't see that in the movies, you don't see it in the magazines," she continued. "And I think that builds the perception that everything is OK."
But some subgroups of AAPI, especially new immigrants, often struggle with language barriers and lack of information concerning the importance of routine screening and don't seek help.
According to Kagawa-Singer's study, AAPI women have the lowest screening and early detection rates for cervical and breast cancer compared to all ethnic groups. The study also showed that 21 percent of AAPI women have never had a Pap test compared to 5 percent of white women.
"Screening in Asian countries is not as prevalent," Kagawa-Singer said. "When women come here, they aren't as familiar with the availability and the need to be more vigilant with cancer here in the U.S."
Many AAPI women, including recent immigrants, have never had Pap smears in their native countries due to lack of advocation and standard care, according to Parada.
But the dangers of avoiding screening become clear, as cervical cancer continues to be the leading cause of death in Vietnamese women.
"It's a very intimate situation that a woman would share with her spouse and not a doctor," said Parada. "Coming here in the US and undergoing such an invasive personal procedure is such a huge barrier."
Another problem stems from the lack of awareness of the variety of AAPI subgroups found throughout the nation.
"If you look at the east coast, which is where most of the funding comes from, most of the differences there are black and white, rather than in Los Angeles County where it's more diverse," Parada said. "I don't think funders on the east coast realize how diverse of a population the Asian ethnic groups are."
Low Asian American participation rates in clinical studies also attribute to the lack of comprehensive cancer studies. AANCART interns are sent to community sites in order to assess and investigate the participation barriers community members might face.
Money raised by Chi Alpha Delta's fashion show will go to fund scholarships for such future interns.
"I think it's wonderful that Chi Alpha Delta chose AANCART as their philanthropy for this particular year because it does affect all different Asian ethnic subgroups," Parada said. "Increasing and targeting awareness of cancer in the college population is also very important."
AANCART affiliates hope to continue collecting pilot data that will launch further grant research into the effects, causes and control of cancer among AAPIs. Investigators, interns and community leaders will also target health care providers with the importance of advocating screening.
AANCART participants hope these partnerships will highlight the growing problem of AAPIs and cancer throughout the country.
"It is high time that all communities that make up L.A. participate in research and benefit from it, and we feel good that the research is extending to the Asian and Pacific Islander populations," Bastani said.