3 Topic Commentaries

Language Barriers Linked to Cancer Treatment Delays

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  Leah Karliner, MD, MAS

  General Internal Medicine; Cancer disparities

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  University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center

  It is impossible to tell which is cancer and which is benign without follow-up diagnostic testing. If this diagnostic follow-up is delayed, then a breast cancer diagnosis and appropriate treatment are delayed. This compounded delay can lead to a later stage cancer diagnosis, which in turn can be harder to treat.

  Source
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  Kim Hanh Nguyen, MPH, ScD

  Health services research; Cancer screening follow-up

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  UCSF Institute for Health Policy Studies

  Patients with an abnormal mammogram need immediate follow-up tests to check whether or not the finding is breast cancer. It’s important not to delay because if breast cancer is found, it can be diagnosed and treated at the earliest possible stage.

  Source
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  Nadine J. McCleary, MD, MPH

  Medical Oncology

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  Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

  The LEP population faces unique barriers to accessing oncology care, such as difficulty communicating with clinicians and a lack of information in their primary language. Consequently, LEP patients may experience delays in oncology referral, treatment, lower enrollment in cancer clinical trials, and more interruptions to cancer care due to unplanned emergency department (ED) visits, or longer hospitalizations.

  Source