Recognizing a Global Threat

This past week, I traveled to New York City to attend a United Nations General Assembly meeting. More than 22 heads of state, including President Obama, were in the city as well. The security was incredible; police and barricades were everywhere, and I had to go through metal detectors and X-rays to enter my hotel. Having just recognized the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, it was obviously that the impact of that terrible day will obviously be felt for decades, if not centuries, to come.

But it was another threat to our society that was discussed at this U.N. meeting – non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which were recognized as a threat to global health. Each year, NCDs kill 36 million people worldwide. This new focus on the threat of NCDs, which include cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and stroke, is critical to worldwide health.

The economic consequences of NCDs are staggering. Cumulative losses for low and middle income countries are estimated to surpass $7 trillion. Population-based measures such as reducing tobacco use through taxation and enacting clean indoor air laws, as well as reducing unhealthy eating and physical inactivity, could be delivered to these countries at a cost of about 40 cents per person per year. The same principles can be applied in the United States for about $3 per person per year. That’s a bargain if I ever saw one!

It is time for us to elevate prevention of these diseases to a new level. We owe it to ourselves to do so.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

All Together Making a Difference

I have spoken many times about the importance of federal funding for cancer research, which is critical to our success in the fight against this disease. Today, the American Association for Cancer Research released a landmark report, the AACR Cancer Progress Report 2011, which is a call to action for the general public and lawmakers to intensify their efforts in supporting cancer and biomedical research.

The report highlights all the progress that we have made in the 40 years since President Richard Nixon signed the National Cancer Act on December 23, 1971. What used to be a death sentence is now, in many cases, a very manageable disease, as evidenced by the more than 12 million cancer survivors living in the United States today.

But there is still work to be done. In the United States alone, more than 570,000 people died from cancer in 2010. That's more than one person every minute of every day. And that is far too many.

I urge you to read the AACR report, which you can find here. I also encourage you to support cancer research by making a donation to the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center, where 100 percent of your money will go toward research, or by contacting your congressional representative and urging them to increase the government's support in the fight against cancer. It will take all of us working together to make a difference and beat this disease.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Firefighters Fighting Cancer

Yesterday, I had a wonderful opportunity to meet with some special men who are raising awareness of women's cancers in a unique way.

The "Pink Heals" tour made a stop at the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center yesterday to kick off a statewide "Cares Enough to Wear Pink" t-shirt campaign. The Pink Heals tour is a a national non-profit led by firefighters who bring awareness to all women’s cancers by touring the country in pink firetrucks and pink uniforms. The tour’s mission is to celebrate women by wearing “her color,” to fight cancer alongside women and to help local non-profits raise money and awareness.


During their stop at the Cancer Center, these firefighters visited with cancer patients and community members, posing for photos and sharing their stories. As part of the tour, people can even sign the firetrucks with their own inspirational messages. I was happy to add my name to that list, and I was pleased to see such an enthusiastic response from everyone who came out to meet the firefighters.


Special thanks to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation of Alabama for coordinating this great event, and thank you to these brave men who are working so hard to increase awareness for women's cancers. 


-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Funding Research Saves Lives

Yesterday, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center hosted some of Alabama's congressional delegation staff for a briefing on the importance of sustained funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for cancer research. This event was co-hosted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network (ACS-CAN) and the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB).

We collectively briefed the staffers on the important role that the Cancer Center plays nationally in translational cancer research (moving findings from the laboratory bench to the patient bedside) and how NIH funding not only sustains our advances in cancer research, but also provides significant economic impact to our city and region.

Speakers included Robert Morris, Vice President of Health Initiatives for the American Cancer Society's Mid-South Division; Dr. Richard Marchase, Vice President of Research and Economic Development at UAB; Molly Daniels, Deputy President of ACS-CAN; Dr. Warner Huh, a Cancer Center gynecologic oncologist; and Dr. Carol Garrison, UAB President.

We also had a very passionate and excellent presentation by Allison Lancaster, a cervical cancer survivor from Dothan, who spoke about how important research was to her during her cancer experience. Ms. Lancaster is a perfect example of the power of research and why we as cancer researchers do the work we do - to save lives.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Heading South: Colorectal Cancer Rates Decrease, But Not Much

A new study this week revealed that fewer people are being diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and the number of people dying from the disease is decreasing as well. This is due in large part to an increase in the number of people getting screened, as well as reducing or eliminating risk factors such as smoking and obesity.

The news for us in the South, however, is not quite as good. The highest rates of colorectal cancer deaths are in the South and Appalachia. While death rates fell by as much as 33 percent in several Northeastern states, the decrease was only 15 percent or less in six Southern states, including Alabama.

Why is this the case? There are several reasons. Southern states are generally poorer than Northern states, and they tend to have more residents without health insurance who may forgo the regular screening that experts recommend for people over age 50. Southerners are also more likely to be obese and to smoke. Alabama is actually the second fattest state in the nation, with a 32.3 percent obesity level. Of the 10 states with the highest obesity rates, nine are in the South.

The UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center is committed to addressing disparities such as these. Our location in the heart of the Deep South makes us a natural leader in developing research and delivery programs to understand and eliminate cancer health disparities. Our Deep South Network for Cancer Control has been quite active and successful in making progress in these arena among minority populations. We have recently begun expanding our research efforts in obesity to better understand the connection between nutrition and cancer. This work is being led by world-renowned nutrition scientist Wendy Demark-Wahnefried, Ph.D, who joined the Cancer Center in 2010.

Rest assured that our scientists are working every day toward our goal of eliminating cancer as a public health problem. I truly believe that this will soon be a reality.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.

Exporting Expertise

Yesterday, the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center unveiled the UAB Cancer Care Network, an affiliation between the Cancer Center and community cancer centers and hospitals in Alabama and Georgia that provides access to the latest discoveries in cancer research and offers an unmatched level of expert cancer treatments in those communities. This is an incredibly exciting initiative that will allow us to bring leading-edge care to these communities, giving patients an opportunity to stay close to home while giving doctors and nurses access to leading cancer research.

Comprehensive cancer centers, such as ours at UAB, offer the highest levels of research and patient care. We set the standards that community hospitals follow. Our goal with the UAB Cancer Care Network is to make that expertise and knowledge available to every man and woman in our region.

One of the most important aspects of the network is that cancer patients at our partner hospitals will have access to the Cancer Center’s vast research enterprise, including our clinical trials that often feature therapies developed at UAB and unavailable elsewhere. The network allows us to bring all of these resources to patients while allowing them to stay close to home and their support system, which is so crucial.

I hope you will learn more about the UAB Cancer Care Network, and as always, thank you for supporting YOUR UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Bridging the Gap

While progress is being made in the fight against cancer, a new report from the American Cancer Society shows that there are still disparities in cancer death rates between people of lower and higher socioeconomic statuses.

Using education as a measuring stick, the study found that people with a high school education or less died at a rate of up to five times higher than those with at least four years of college education. Among men, those with less education died of cancer at rates more than two and a half times than those of men with college degrees. These numbers among women were almost identical.

Why is this the case? Studies have shown that people with less education - often those in lower socioeconomic situations - are more likely to engage in risky health behaviors, such as smoking, poor nutrition and lack of physical activity. Likewise, these populations are less likely to have access to the care they need and screenings for early detection.

It is our duty to continue to address these disparities, which has been a longstanding commitment of the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. While we launch new research and discover new treatments, we must also look for ways to deliver all of these discoveries to every single person, regardless of where they are in life.

-Ed Partridge, M.D.