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Cancer is the number one cause of death
among Latinos.

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It doesn't have to be, writes
associate editor and opinion columnist

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Marcela Garcia.

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She joined us to discuss
what's behind rising cancer rates

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and what can be done about it.

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Marcela, why is cancer the leading cause
for death amongst Latinos?

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Are Latinos just more prone
to cancer than other people?

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No, not at all. Thank you for having me.

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You're going to talk about
this important topic.

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It's not it's

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not the fact that Latinos, as a group,
are more predisposed to get cancer.

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It's just that when we have it,
you know, it's more likely

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that we have all these issues
that prevent us from getting the care

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needed at the time that, you know,
they need to get the care.

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And so it's lack of access
to health insurance.

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Language barriers as well.

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And then other factors
that, you know, for instance, the fact

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that Latinos are more likely, perhaps that
in general than than their peers

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to get diagnosed
with cancer at a later stage.

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What about environmental factors?

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Do they play any role in these statistics?

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Yeah, 100%.

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So one of the cancers
that Latinos get that when they get it,

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it just has a higher rate
of mortality is stomach cancer.

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And that is because Latinos in general
are more likely to have bacteria called H.

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Pylori, which is one of the causes
of stomach cancer.

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And so when that happens, you know,
we don't know that,

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like just eating in Mexico, for instance,
I grew up in Mexico.

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I don't know, maybe I have that bacteria,
but because that is one of the origins

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of stomach cancer that makes Latinos,
you know, more perhaps prone to get it.

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But it's not that, you know,
that we're getting it at higher rates.

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It's just that when we get it again,

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because they don't have access
to insurance,

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they don't have access to a doctor
that, you know,

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maybe they maybe they get a stomach ache

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and they just delay because they don't
have their have the money to pay for it.

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That's why that particular cancer
stomach is more lethal

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or just higher rate or mortality
among Latinos.

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You spoke to an oncologist at Dana-Farber,

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to write this article.

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What did you learn from them?
What did they have to say?

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about this topic?

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Yeah. So these are Dana-Farber
Cancer Institute, right?

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We're very lucky here in Boston
to have such an institution

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because they're like at the forefront
of cancer research in cancer treatment.

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And Doctor Nord just Flores,
who is originally from Venezuela,

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she at Dana-Farber as establish her lab.

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It's called the Florida lab.

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And so she's looking into precisely
why Latinos,

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are, you know, suffering right from this.

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One of the things that she told me
that sounds really groundbreaking

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is that she's looking into a particular
lung cancer that is affecting

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Latinas, in particular,
Latino women and Asian women.

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And so she's just
she launched a study as to why.

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And the thing about this particular lung
cancer is that it has nothing

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to do with factors, typical factors
like smoking.

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And so then what what happens is that
medical professionals, your doctor doesn't

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necessarily screen for lung cancer,
because if you're not a smoker,

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perhaps they think that you're not likely
to develop lung cancer.

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But they are getting it.

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The other thing that she does
is that they have a van that goes to

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neighborhoods in the city of Boston,
but also outside of Boston,

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like in the Merritt, my Valley.

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Lawrence, she brings cancer prevention,
cancer education,

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to them, meeting Latinos where they are.

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Right. Because that's again, a language.

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Language barriers are huge
when it comes to cancer of Latinos.

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Marcela, you mentioned that
a contributing factor to the percentages

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being as high as they are amongst
Latinos is a language barrier.

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Can you tell our viewers
in English and in Spanish

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where they can go to learn
more about this? Sure.

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So I should say that
the article that I wrote for the For Glow

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magazine is available

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in English and Spanish to for viewers
who want to read it in Spanish.

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And also I would ask them to reach out

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to advocacy organizations
like the American Cancer Society

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and the Dana-Farber Cancer Care
Equity Program, where Doctor

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Flores Worser,
which is part of that program.

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And and also talk
to your medical professional.

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And I'm happy to say this also in Spanish
in Espanol.

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jolie la la gente contacted a la
American cancer, porcupine

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and mutual Information in Espanol
y también el programa de trabajo.

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Doctora Flores and Dana and Dana Farber,
a mucho recursos

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information para sobre todo lo recommend
that you contact us through doctor or,

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professional medical assistance in tendo
sintomas and explica.

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Associate editor and opinion columnist
Marcela Garcia.

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Thank you so much for joining us.

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Thank you for having me again.

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For daily access to Boston Globe today.

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