The last session at PHEN’s Boston Prostate Cancer Community Rally included a panel discussion with a focus on actions and strategies that can put an end to the prostate cancer racial disparity. PHEN President Thomas Farrington also showcased how the statistics in Jackson, Mississippi and Boston, MA have similar rates of prostate cancer cases and deaths. He posed the question – why hasn’t a city with the nation’s top cancer centers done better than a city lacking these resources?
This is why the Boston Rally highlighted vital steps to save lives from prostate cancer. The panelists included:
- Dr. Willie Bodrick, II, Senior Pastor, Twelfth Baptist Church
- Magnolia Contreras, VP for Community Health, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
- Miniard Culpepper, Pastor at Pleasant Hill MB Church
- Nicole Dixon, National Policy & Advocacy Assistant Director, Johnson & Johnson
- Jack Hoppin, PhD, CEO, Ratio Therapeutics, Board of Directors, Golf Fights Cancer
- Mark Katz, MD, Urologist, Boston Medical Center
- Lynn Moore, PhD, Prostate Cancer Survivor, Chief Diversity Officer, MassBay Community College
Rev. Culpepper mentioned that the lack of cost-sharing and availability of affordable prostate cancer screenings may have led to late-stage diagnoses in Massachusetts and a greater prostate cancer death rate comparable to Jackson, Mississippi. As such, bringing attention about this to state lawmakers is essential for lowering these costs and providing affordable early detection screenings.
Dr. Katz mentioned how it is important to create greater connections between churches, community centers, and doctors’ offices to improve education about early detection screening. Dr. Hoppin specifically mentioned how mobile prostate cancer testing, which involves medical vans moving to different communities, can help increase early detection rates.