Health Awareness
Please make a selection below to learn more about health awareness topics for each month:
Awareness Topics
May — Skin Cancer Awareness Month
May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month and the ProMedica Cancer Institute reminds you that early detection is the best way to fight cancer.
The American Cancer Society reports that skin cancer is the most common of all cancer types. More than one million skin cancers are diagnosed each year in the United States. That's more than cancers of the prostate, breast, lung, colon, uterus, ovaries, and pancreas combined. The number of skin cancer cases has increased during the past few decades.
The ProMedica Cancer Institute offers comprehensive cancer care to patients across northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan and will offer free skin cancer screenings and information throughout the month of May. For more information, please call 877-291-1441.
Learn More About Skin Cancer
April is Minority Health Month
April is Minority Health Month and the ProMedica Cancer Institute reminds you that early detection is the best way to fight cancer, especially for minorities.
The American Cancer Society reports that:
- African Americans with cancer have shorter survival than white Americans at all stages of diagnosis.
- Although African-American women are less likely than Caucasian women to develop breast cancer, they are more likely to die from the disease if they develop it.
- African-American men have almost twice the rate of prostate cancer than white men and are more than twice as likely to die of the disease.
- Cervical cancer incidence rates in Vietnamese American women are five times higher than the rates among Caucasian American women.
- Hispanic women had the highest invasive cervical cancer incidence rates of any group other than Vietnamese American, and twice the incidence rates of non-Hispanic Caucasian women.
- Cancer has been the number one killer of Asian American women since 1980.
- Native Americans and Alaska Natives have the lowest five-year survival rate from "all cancers combined" compared to other populations.
To learn more about the "health gap" for minorities, visit:
March is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month
ProMedica Cancer Institute encourages you to know the importance of the early detection of colorectal cancer. Not counting skin cancers, colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer found in men and women in the United States. The risk of a person having colorectal cancer in their lifetime is about 1 in 19.
In most cases, colorectal cancers develop slowly over many years. Most of these cancers begin as a polyp—a growth of tissue that starts in the lining and grows into the center of the colon or rectum. Removing a polyp early may keep it from becoming cancer.
For more information about colorectal cancer visit:
February is Cancer Genetics Month
ProMedica Cancer Institute encourages you to recognize your true risk for cancer. There are many risks for cancer, but 5 to 10 % of cancers are hereditary. ProMedica Cancer Institute’s genetics program is led by a specialized team of board-certified physicians and specially-trained nurses. The program offers risk assessments for appropriate individuals as well as testing and education for at-risk patients.
For more information about cancer genetics visit:
January
Remember to care for our caregivers.
In January, ProMedica Cancer Institute celebrates the caregivers who tirelessly care for those undergoing treatment of cancer. The Victory Center, a partner of ProMedica Cancer Institute, offers numerous resources for cancer patients and their family and caregivers including the following support groups:
Family/Caregiver Group
A support group for those caring for a loved one with any type of cancer.
Meets the first and third Wednesday of every month from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at The Victory Center.
Breast Cancer Caregiver Group
A support group for those caring for a loved one with breast cancer.
Meets the second and fourth Tuesday of every month from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at The Victory Center.
For more information on the Victory Center or their programs and services, call 419-531-7600 or visit http://thevictorycenter.org/.
To learn more about the importance of caring for the caregiver, please visit: