INDIANA – Imagine being told you have cancer and that chemo and radiation won’t help. The only way to have a chance to survive is through a clinical trial. But, you don’t have the money. One organization is helping people who can’t afford the expense that goes along with trials, pay for it.

“There are so many barriers that exist for those patients to enter into those trials,” said Dana Dornsife, founder of Lazarex Cancer Foundation, which helps people pay for the out-of-pocket expense, the hotels, cab fare, and all other expenses that go along with being part of a clinical trial.

Donsife said people of color are sometimes disproportionately affected by cancer, and is trying to make people aware during National Minority Cancer Awareness Week.

“Because poverty disproportionately affects our minority communities, our minority communities are suffering from pre-existing health conditions,” she said.

Earlier this week, the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus sent eight suggestions to Gov. Eric Holcomb about how people of color could be helped. Some of those suggestions included a minimum wage increase and other ways to help minorities earn more money.

The Caucus postulated that poverty is a barrier in getting treatment for coronavirus, and a cause of transmission in minority communities.

Dornsife said she believes that it is the same for cancer. People of color die at twice the rate of whites, and are less likely to be eligible for trials because of pre-existing conditions like diabetes and obesity, which are prevalent in minority communities in Indiana.

Over 34,000 new cancer cases were diagnosed in Indiana last year. Dornsife said that if people don’t know about the trials, they can’t participate. If they can’t afford it, they can’t participate. She said Lazarex is trying to help with both of those barriers.

 

Cover Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay