Web site about cancer goes multilingual

People can download materials translated into various Asian and Pacific languages

Asians and Pacific Islanders with limited English-speaking ability can now get information about cancer in their own languages from an online database.

It was unveiled last month at the annual meeting in Honolulu of the Asian American Network for Cancer Awareness, Research and Training, based at the University of California at Davis.

"Asians and Pacific Islanders are dying in too many cases from a lack of basic information about cancer," Moon Chen Jr., principal investigator of the network and associate director of the UC-Davis Cancer Center, said in a news release.

He said the Web resource was developed by AANCART and the American Cancer Society in response to community needs and to provide a single point of access for authoritative cancer education materials.

People can download cancer information materials translated into more than 12 Asian and Pacific languages, Chen said: "This site provides one-stop access to an unprecedented volume of these materials."

Dr. Mark Clanton, National Cancer Institute deputy director for cancer care delivery systems, said the institute "is very proud of this historic database, which will improve the transfer of critical cancer information to Asians and Pacific Islanders.

"Advances such as this bring us closer to eliminating suffering and death due to cancer among Asians and Pacific Islanders."

Information will include how to reduce risks from preventable malignancies, including cancers of the breast, cervix, colon, liver, lung and stomach.

The database catalogs and provides links to materials written in Khmer, Chamorro, Chinese, Hawaiian, Hmong, Ilocano, Korean, Samoan, Tagalog, Tongan and Vietnamese.

English-language materials culturally tailored for native Hawaiians also are available.

Sally West Brooks, chairwoman of the American Cancer Society's national board of directors, said health providers might have had to go to several different organizations in the past to find suitable materials for patients.

Doctors can use the new site to search for patient information by language, type of cancer, cancer-related topic or organization, she said.

Expert reviewers have screened all the materials for accuracy, linguistic appropriateness and cultural relevance, she said.

More than 12 organizations developed and contributed information; others are invited to contribute materials that meet the criteria.

Helen Chew, a medical oncologist at the UC-Davis Cancer Center and medical director for the Sacramento AANCART, said the Web site will make it easier for doctors and other health care providers to communicate with patients about cancer prevention and early detection.

"We have medical interpreters who speak 18 languages, including the most prevalent Asian languages," she said. "But this new resource will allow us to also give patients materials to take home, think about, discuss with family members, friends or traditional healers and refer to as new questions come up.

"In the age of the Internet, we can and should make lifesaving information about cancer prevention and early detection available to everyone," she said.