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(Photo by Sylvester)
With support from community organizations and philanthropic donors, three 40-foot “Game Changer” vehicles at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine are saving lives by bringing free cancer screening and research opportunities to underserved neighborhoods in South Florida.
These vehicles “close critical gaps in access to cancer education, prevention and research throughout South Florida, and in so doing help fulfill Sylvester’s mission to reduce the local cancer burden,” said Erin Kobetz, PhD, MPH, associate director, Community Outreach and Engagement at Sylvester.
First launched in 2018, the Game Changer vehicles, staffed by multilingual healthcare professionals from Sylvester, travel to health fairs and other community events, local libraries and even places of business. Once on-site, they screen for a variety of disorders including head and neck cancers, colorectal and prostate cancers, gastric cancers, HIV (an indicator of many cancers), and more.
During the first seven months of this year, alone, the teams screened more than 300 adults over age 18 and identified 33 positive results — about 10 percent of the total. All were referred for followup care.
“We have identified areas where there is a strong need for early detection of cancers,” said Elizabeth J. Franzmann, MD, a specialist in head and neck surgery who focuses on early detection of tumors. “For instance, there is a high percentage of head and neck cancers among minorities in south Miami-Dade. The Game Changer makes screenings very accessible and available to everyone. We go into these areas and develop a rapport with the community so we can educate and encourage them to be checked for early signs of cancer.”
Shria Kumar, MD, assistant professor of digestive and liver diseases at Sylvester, uses the Game Changer to assist with research on Helicobacter pylori, a stomach bacteria that can lead to gastric cancer.
“Partnering with the Game Changer vehicles, we examine rates of infection in our community and how these rates vary among different groups, including immigrants of different countries,” Dr. Kumar said. “We use a breath testing machine, and if a person has H. pylori, we give them treatment on the spot and arrange followup testing. Our findings could lead to future larger studies that look to improve the health of minority populations across the U.S.”
Recently, the Game Changer team was at Coral Reef Library in Palmetto Bay and saw Khambrel Brown, who saw a flyer about the screening inside the library.
“I am here today because I want to feel secure in myself and to help other people,” Brown said. “My mother died of liver cancer when she was 48, so I’m glad to sign up for research that could help find ways to cure cancer.”
He added that he knows people in his neighborhood who need to be screened for cancer but don’t have insurance to cover a visit to the doctor.
“I hope that people take care of themselves so they can live long and healthy lives,” he said.
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