Everyone in Virginia has had their life touched by cancer. It’s the second-leading cause of death in the commonwealth, with more than 15,000 Virginians dying from the disease each year.
The White House has just announced a $240 million investment to fight cancer, adding new resources to support its Cancer Moonshot initiative with the goal of reducing cancer deaths by 50% over 25 years. VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center and UVA Cancer Center are leading the charge against cancer in Virginia, with initiatives that align with this reenergized national focus on prevention, screening, improved clinical trial enrollment and cancer health equity.
According to our data, these cancer types are the biggest threat to our communities’ health:
Lung cancer drives the most cancer deaths in the commonwealth by far, with 3,320 estimated deaths in 2023. While we have made significant progress over the past decades, helping people quit tobacco remains a priority to help eliminate this deadly impact — one shared by the president’s Cancer Moonshot initiative.
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Massey and UVA both have community outreach programs to offer support to Virginians ready to quit smoking, and we’ve partnered on initiatives like the Great American Smokeout to educate our communities about the risks and provide resources on how to quit. We are also investigating the racial disparities that lead to delays in lung cancer treatment for minorities, and why Black men are diagnosed at a younger age with less smoking history.
Prostate cancer is the second-leading cancer diagnosis in Virginia, and one that also disproportionately affects Black men, who are 50% more likely to develop prostate cancer and twice as likely to die from it. There are genetic components to these disparities, but the impact of structural racism and lack of access to treatment are also factors.
Clinical trials are critical in the fight against cancer and the disparities that add to Virginians’ burden, making cutting-edge innovations in screening, prevention and treatment accessible to all. Together, Virginia Commonwealth University and UVA offer more than 25 clinical trials related to prostate cancer at locations across the commonwealth. Recognizing that finding the right clinical trials can be overwhelming, we provide patient navigators to help patients access and enroll in the right trials for them.
Breast cancer has the highest rate of new cases in Virginia and is estimated to be the fourth-leading cause of cancer deaths in 2023. Only 70% of women 45 and older have had an up-to-date mammogram, and new guidelines recommending screening starting at age 40 likely mean that rate is lower for women ages 40 to 45.
Black women are unduly impacted, with a 40% higher death rate from breast cancer than white women. We are working to understand and address that disparity through clinical trials and improved screening access: Massey’s Minority/Underserved NCI Community Oncology Research Program helps patients from diverse backgrounds access community-based clinical trials close to home, through partnerships with health systems and oncology medical practices throughout the commonwealth.
UVA Cancer Center, meanwhile, has established two partnerships — one with Central Virginia Health Services and Tri-Area Community Health, and another with Blue Ridge Medical Center — to expand access to cancer screenings for underserved groups in Central, Southside and Southwest Virginia.
And gastrointestinal cancers — including liver, pancreatic and colorectal cancers — together cause a significant number of cancer cases. Southeastern Virginia is a hot spot for colorectal cancer with 9% higher death rates than the U.S. average. Like lung cancer, colorectal cancer is also more common among rural residents.
To combat this risk, we deploy community outreach and engagement teams into underserved areas across Virginia. That means working with and alongside our community members to identify and meet your health needs. For example, VCU and UVA have partnered with the Virginia Colorectal Cancer Roundtable to educate Virginians on new guidelines recommending that most people should begin getting screened for colorectal cancer at age 45. Massey is also set to deploy mobile health vans to provide critical cancer education and outreach in central and southern Virginia to help combat health disparities.
While these diseases continue to threaten the health of our families and neighbors, there has been significant progress made in cancer prevention, early detection and treatment. The number of cancer survivors in the U.S. is projected to increase to 22.2 million by 2030, with treatment-related health challenges and co-occurring conditions that need to be supported. Both our institutions are increasing resources to provide holistic care that addresses survivors’ unique needs.
VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center recently celebrated its recognition by the National Cancer Institute as a Comprehensive Cancer Center, joining UVA Cancer Center as just one of 54 nationwide and together becoming only the 14th state to offer its residents more than one such program.
What does this mean for Virginians? It means that if you are battling cancer, are a survivor or are a member of a group at increased risk for certain cancers, you can join a clinical trial to receive the latest treatments or play an active role in advancing our understanding of how genetics affect cancer. It means that representatives from our centers are in your communities across Virginia to educate you about risk and prevention, and to help you receive lifesaving cancer screenings. And it means that the next generation of scientists responsible for the advances that will help us end cancer are being trained in your backyard.
From the Archives: South Richmond Health Center
The South Richmond Health Center on Fourteenth and Bainbridge Streets formally opened in January 1952.
The Health Center, which was set up on an experimental basis in December 1947, was not the first of its kind but, it was the first in Richmond. The center originally served the south section of the city and was set up to avoid duplication of nursing care by the Instructive Visiting Nurse Association (IVNA) and the City Health Department. Nurses from the two organizations had frequently been called in on the same case, but the center alleviated conflict by assigning one nurse to follow all the way through in caring for a family.
Eight nurses worked at the center on a voluntary basis—four from IVNA and four from the City Health Department. Two of the nurses in 1952 were African American.
Supervisors of the center and nurses were rotated on a three-month period to obtain proper orientation in preparation for what would later become a city-wide program.
In the 1950s, the center was open Monday through Friday from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm and Sundays and holidays for the acutely ill.
Two well-child clinics were held each week on Tuesdays and Fridays and a prenatal clinic on Thursday mornings. All clinic services were without charge.
Other organizations in Richmond also helped with the center including the James River Woman’s Club and the Girl Scouts of Richmond.
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Dr. Robert A. Winn is director and Lipman Chair of Oncology at VCU Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center. Contact Winn at mccdirector@vcu.edu.
Dr. Thomas P. Loughran Jr. is director of UVA Cancer Center. Contact Loughran at tl7cs@uvahealth.org.