From 2003:
http://www.dfci.harvard.edu/abo/news/pressarchive/032503.asp

STATISTICS AND HISTORY REGARDING MINORITY HEALTH CARE
• Smoking increases the risk of developing kidney cancer by 40%;
• Obesity is a factor in 20% of the people who get cancer;
• A sedentary lifestyle is likely to contribute to the development of kidney cancer;
• Many studies suggest that workplace exposure to certain chemicals increases the risk for kidney cancer.

WHAT CAN BE DONE TO IMPROVE THE SYSTEM?
The Foundation is reaching out to community, faith, and national organizations to provide education on the disease risk factors.
• Smoking increases the risk of developing kidney cancer by 40%;
• Obesity is a factor in 20% of the people who get cancer;
• A sedentary lifestyle is likely to contribute to the development of kidney cancer;
• Many studies suggest that workplace exposure to certain chemicals increases the risk for kidney cancer.

WHAT HAPPENS IF I WAIT?
As with attacking any disease, early detection is the key. Look for the following symptoms, and report them to your medical professional:
• Blood in urine;
• Abdominal mass;
• Back pain;
• Low blood counts;
• Unexplained weight loss.
Having any of the symptoms above may indicate other conditions, and they may need medical attention as well.

HOW DOES YJKFOUNDATION HELP?
We are focusing on minorities and kidney cancer. Insufficient data is available on the incidence of disease in each ethnic group. We will collect this information through working with our partner organizations.

Scholarships will be awarded to researchers at local medical institutions.

Education is key. Knowing what to look for in order to be adequately informed will keep you ahead of the curve. We will try to help you to be proactive with the information on this site, and links to other resources. With personal dilligence, we can overcome the disparities in healthcare.

Kidney and Renal Pelvis Cancer in Georgia by Shaunta S. Parker,
Georgia Center for Oncology Research and Education (Georgia CORE)
Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Georgia¹. Kidney cancer is a serious health issue that affects many Georgians.

KIDNEY CANCER IN GEORGIA
While many of the major cancer types are declining in prevalence, kidney cancer has maintained a slow, yet steady rise in incidence and mortality (shown in Table 1).
• Approximately 957 new cases of kidney cancer are diagnosed each year²;
• Black men are 36% more likely to be diagnosed with kidney cancer than white men³;
• An estimated 1,415 Georgians died of kidney cancer between the years 2000 through 2004⁴.

Table 1.

This table shows the 5-year mortality rate change for Georgia. Among the listed cancer sites, kidney cancer is the second most fatal cancer type.

MOST IMPACTED AREAS
The map detailed below exhibits the age-adjusted kidney cancer death rates for Georgia.
• The most impacted areas for kidney cancer mortality in Georgia appear to be in the Metro-Atlanta area, Bibb, Carroll, Chatham, Floyd, Lowndes, Muscogee, and Richmond counties⁶.



1. Georgia DHR. “2005 Georgia Data Summary Cancer,” at
http://health.state.ga.us/pdfs/epi/cdiee/Cancer.pdf;
Accessed 11 July 2006.
2. http://statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/cgi-bin/incidencerates /incidencerates.pl?13&072&00&0&001&1&1&1 .
3. Georgia DHR. 2005. “Georgia Epidemiology Report”, at
http://health.state.ga.us/pdfs/epi/gers/ger0305.pdf.
4. Georgia Department of Human Resources,
Division of Public Health. 2006.
“ Georgia Comprehensive Cancer registry”, at http://health.state.ga.
us/pdfs/chronic/cancer/cancermortalityrates.00-04.pdf.
5. SEER State Cancer Profiles. 2006.
“5-Year Rate Changes: Mortality Georgia, 1999-2003”, at http://statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/recenttrend/recenttrend.php ?0&13&0&9599&001&999&00&0&0&0&2#graph.
6. SEER State Cancer Profile Map. 2006.
“ Age-adjusted death rates for Georgia,
1999-2003 Kidney and Renal Pelvis,” at http://statecancerprofiles. cancer.gov/map/map.withimage.php?13&0 01&072&00&0&2&9903&1&6&0#map

Click for the Link to this report.