ASCO: You’re listening to a podcast from Cancer.Net. This cancer information website is produced by the American Society of Clinical Oncology, known as ASCO, the voice of the world's oncology professionals. The purpose of this podcast is to educate and to inform. This is not a substitute for professional medical care and is not intended for use in the diagnosis or treatment of individual conditions. Guests on this podcast express their own opinions, experience, and conclusions. Guests’ statements on this podcast do not express the opinions of ASCO. The mention of any product, service, organization, activity, or therapy should not be construed as an ASCO endorsement. Cancer research discussed in this podcast is ongoing, so data described here may change as research progresses. Brielle Collins: Hi everyone, I'm Brielle Gregory Collins, a member of the Cancer.Net content team, and I'll be your host for today's Cancer.Net podcast. Cancer.Net is the patient information website of ASCO, the American Society of Clinical Oncology. June 15th to June 21st, 2023, marks the third annual National Black Family Cancer Awareness Week, an initiative led by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's, or FDA's, Oncology Center of Excellence to increase cancer awareness within the Black community. Today we're going to be talking about cancer disparities in the Black community, the importance of cancer screening and prevention for Black families, and resources available to Black families for support. Our guests today are Dr. Luckson Mathieu and Rea Blakey. Dr. Mathieu is a thoracic oncologist at the FDA in the Division of Oncology 2. Thanks for joining us today, Dr. Mathieu. Dr. Luckson Mathieu: Happy to be here. Thank you for inviting me. Brielle Collins: Ms. Blakey is the Associate Director for External Outreach and Engagement at the Oncology Center of Excellence and leads the National Black Family Cancer Awareness Initiative for the Oncology Center of Excellence Project Community. Thanks for joining us today, Ms. Blakey. Rea Blakey: Thank you, happy to be here. Brielle Collins: Before we begin, we should mention that Dr. Mathieu and Ms. Blakey do not have any relationships to disclose related to this podcast, but you can find their full disclosure statements on Cancer.Net. Now to begin, Dr. Mathieu, research has shown that Black people are more adversely affected by cancer than other racial and ethnic groups in the U.S. Can you describe some of the cancer disparities that exist in the Black community? Luckson Mathieu: Sure, thank you for that question. Before providing a description, I would like to first define cancer health disparities. The National Cancer Institute, or the NCI, defines cancer health disparities as adverse differences that exist among certain population groups and cancer measures, such as numbers of cases, the number of deaths, cancer-related health complications, and quality of life after cancer treatment. Black and African American people have higher rates of acquiring and dying from cancer compared to members of other races. For many of the most common types of cancer, including breast, lung, prostate, and colorectal, the incidence and deaths are higher among African Americans than any other racial and ethnic groups. Furthermore, despite having similar rates of breast cancer, African American women are more likely than White women to die of this disease. African American men have a prostate cancer death rate more than double than that of men of other racial groups. Unfortunately, my description is a brief depiction of an alarming and expansive reality. Brielle Collins: Thank you for walking through that, Dr. Mathieu. And thank you, too, for providing that definition of disparities. And Ms. Blakey, can you describe the purpose of National Black Family Cancer Awareness Week and its role in addressing these disparities and raising cancer awareness in the Black community? Rea Blakey: Sure, happy to. The purpose of the National Bl