Older adults with cancer are an oft neglected group, especially when you consider that they represent the vast majority of cancer patients. Despite this fact, they are severely underrepresented in clinical research to date, which tends to study treatment options, effects and outcomes for younger populations of patients.

At a time when autism diagnoses are at an all-time high, most pediatricians don’t offer the tests necessary to screen Spanish-speaking children.

A study by Oregon Health and Science University researchers in the journal Pediatrics found only about 10 percent of California pediatricians offer both developmental and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) screenings in Spanish. The tests are recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics, with four developmental screenings between ages nine and 30 months and two autism screenings at 18 and 24 months.

A wise man once asked me how I envisioned the future of Latinas Contra Cancer (LCC), the organization I founded in 2003. I said it would be the Latino American Cancer Society, only focused on service not research. Let somebody else worry about the research!

For the first time includes special activities for Hispanic/Latino patients and community members.

Health risks vary by Hispanic subgroup. The first national study on Hispanic health risks and leading causes of death in the United States by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that similar to non-Hispanic whites (whites), the two leading causes of death in Hispanics are heart disease and cancer.