A new initiative to tackle high incidence and mortality rates of lung cancer in Indigenous populations is being spearheaded by Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. The program will bring education and Roswell’s virtual resources to Indigenous communities across the United States, Canada and even into the Pacific Islands.
Native people face an 11% higher risk of dying from cancer than white populations, according to the American Cancer Society. They, along with other health groups like the CDC note a high rate of late-stage diagnosis in Native people, and lack of health care resources.
Now with a three-year grant from Eli Lilly, Roswell Park’s Indigenous Cancer Health team is launching a holistic lung health program tailored for, and largely by Native people. Rodney Haring, Ph.D, is a Seneca Nation citizen and chair of Roswell’s Indigenous team.
"The program is about educating people. It's there to provide information about early screening, prevention, but it goes beyond that," said Haring. "Cancer is part of the conversation, but it's a holistic program that talks about Indigenous knowledge, ties the ancestral lifestyles and eating healthy, diet [and] exercise, and how we combine that all towards things like stress management and setting healthy lung goals for ourselves as people in these communities."
Former Seneca Nation president and current councilor, Todd Gates, knows the realities of cancer. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2021.
"The work of Roswell Department of Indigenous Cancer Health, what they do here in Western New York and across Indian Country, is meaningful and is helping Native people and their communities be strong, active advocates for their personal care," said Gates.
The "Healthy Workforce, Productive Community" program will introduce Roswell’s virtual lung health and early detection resources into existing employee training and benefits offered by partnered Native nations and entities.
For Haring, who has devoted his career to cancer research, the impact early detection and connection to treatment can have extends deeper than an individual’s health.
"That person may be the last of the language speakers. That person may be last of the lacrosse stick makers. That person may be last of some wisdom that we have," he said. "And if we're able to get them screened early and have early opportunities for treatment, better opportunities for treatment. Well, then that particular wisdom is going to be with our communities to care for a little longer than they may have."
