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Breaking Barriers in Cancer Care Disparities
Change the Odds is an ACS initiative with sponsorship funding from Pfizer designed to bridge the gap in cancer care disparities. The initiative aims to improve health outcomes in underserved communities across the United States by enhancing awareness of and access to cancer screenings, clinical trial opportunities, and patient support and comprehensive navigation. Change the Odds will initially focus on breast and prostate cancer, with the potential to expand to additional cancer types.
Cancer doesn’t discriminate. And neither should cancer care.
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Wondering whether participating in a clinical trial may be right for you? Learn more and talk with your doctor to help you decide.
Find Resources and Support
If you or someone you love is impacted by cancer, you are not alone.
- Learn more about Pfizer tools and resources to support people in their cancer journey and download the ACS Cares app.
- Need a ride? Road to Recovery offers free rides to cancer-related medical appointments.
- Need a place to stay? Our Hope Lodge communities provide free housing during treatment.
Patrick Dempsey lends his voice to the "Change the Odds" initiative to raise awareness of cancer disparities and encourage screening
Despite advances in care, the odds of surviving a cancer diagnosis are lower in rural areas of the United States compared to urban areas, with people in rural areas more likely to receive a later-stage diagnosis and less likely to receive guideline-recommended care. i,ii
Award-winning actor and cancer community advocate Patrick Dempsey has teamed up with Pfizer and the American Cancer Society in support of the Change the Odds initiative to help raise awareness of these disparities and encourage everyone to get screened.
Through a series of video discussions with people impacted by cancer from rural areas across the country, Patrick will help uncover the challenges these communities face in getting screened and navigating cancer care.
We believe that together, we can overcome these barriers and help “Change the Odds” against cancer for rural communities.
To see the latest on this video series, make sure to check back here and follow ACS and Pfizer on social media.
News and Stories
Key Statistics
Breast and prostate cancer are not only the most common cancer types in women and men in the United States, but they are also on the rise – even as rates of other cancers are declining. They also reflect significant disparities in care, with Black, Latin American and Hispanic men and women being more likely to receive a late diagnosis and at higher risk of death compared to White individuals. Beyond race and ethnicity, socioeconomic status and geography also contribute to cancer disparities, with people living in rural areas experiencing later diagnosis and higher mortality rates compared to those living in urban areas. Each of these communities – racial and ethnic minorities, and people living in rural areas – are underrepresented in clinical trials for cancer treatments.
iHenley, S. J., Anderson, R. N., Thomas, C. C., Massetti, G. M., Peaker, B., & Richardson, L. C. (2017). Invasive cancer incidence, 2004–2013, and deaths, 2006–2015, in nonmetropolitan and metropolitan counties—United States. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report Surveillance Summaries, 66(14), 1-13. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/66/ss/ss6614a1.htm
ii Yabroff KR, Han X, Zhao J, Nogueira L, Jemal A. Rural cancer disparities in the United States: A Multilevel Framework to improve access to care and patient outcomes. JCO Oncology Practice. 2020;16(7):409-413.
https://ascopubs.org/doi/full/10.1200/OP.20.00352
