NATION : Poor Miss Early Cancer Detection

WASHINGTON —  Cancer often constitutes “a needless death sentence” for America’s poor and under-insured, and more cancer prevention and treatment efforts should be targeted at the needy, an American Cancer Society report said today.

The report, based on testimony at seven public hearings held across the nation in May and June, says, “Poor people endure greater pain and suffering from cancer than other Americans. Millions of Americans living in poverty are not reaping the benefits of advances in cancer prevention, detection and treatment.”

The study said the crux of the problem appears to be that cancer is often detected much later in the poor than in more well-to-do patients. Chances of survival are usually much better if the malignancy is detected in its early stages and promptly treated.