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Black History Month:
Acknowledging the Past and Highlighting the Present
For many centuries, African American people have been essential to advancing the field of oncology and research. Upstate Carolina NCORP continues to commemorate Black History Month by acknowledging the past work of medical pioneers in oncology research to dismantle cancer health disparities in the Black community and highlight the persistent progress of the present
In 1926, Dr. May Edward Chinn became the first African American woman to graduate from the University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College. She practiced medicine in Harlem for fifty years, advocating for socioeconomically disadvantaged patients with advanced, often previously untreated diseases, such as late-stage cancer. Due to racial discrimination, Dr. Chinn, along with other African American physicians, did not have access to specific hospitals or unique residencies, thus opened a private practice to provide treatment to low-income Black patients who did not have access to medical care for advanced therapies, as well as exemplifying the importance of patient advocacy by accompanying patients to other clinic appointments to learn about biopsy techniques. With a continued interest in fighting against racial barriers in medicine and improving health conditions in the community, Dr. Chinn became a committed supporter of new methods to detect cancer in its earliest stages by studying cytological methods for cancer detection with Dr. Georgios Papanikolaou, inventor of the Pap smear test for detection of cervical cancer. Additionally, during her staff position at the Strang Cancer Clinic, a cancer research facility in New York, Dr. Chinn promoted the importance of cancer screenings in African American communities, the best practical screening approaches for non-symptomatic patients, and the use of family medical histories for risk factors. Despite the barriers Dr. Chinn faced as a black female physician, advocating for her community and quality cancer care for socioeconomically disadvantaged patients, her legacy contributed to cancer treatments and screenings used today to help drive improvements in care through early diagnosis (National Institutes of Health, 2015 Jun 3).
Where are we now?
Research has shown that African American people have higher rates of cancer than other racial groups and face more obstacles to cancer prevention and detection due to factors that contribute to cancer disparities, such as unequal access to clinical trials, cost barriers, geographical locations, and education (Surveillance Research Program, National Cancer Institute, 2024 Apr 17). With alarming cancer incidence and mortality rates among the African American community, specifically with breast, lung, and colorectal cancers at a late stage (Kennedy et al. 2025), community research programs, such as NCORP, are essential in bridging the gap of underrepresented groups in clinical trials.
What are we doing locally?
Upstate Carolina NCORP emphasizes the importance of African American participation in NCI Clinical Trials through community engagement and patient support programs. For example, our site participates in the large-scale breast cancer screening trial, EA1151: Tomosynthesis Mammographic Imaging Screening Trial (TMIST), which is helping researchers learn how to personalize breast cancer screening for women to reduce the risk of advanced breast cancer. UC-NCORP enrolled 1,904 participants; 420 identified as Black/African American women. Thus, exemplifying our NCORP’s dedication to addressing health equity gaps in cancer research representation and survivorship.
Connecting the Past to the Future
According to the NIH Research Matters Blog titled “Research in Context: Detecting cancer,” – over the last decade, researchers have made considerable strides in learning how to detect signs of cancer in bodily fluids like blood, saliva, and urine, with liquid biopsies being the key new testing point to aid in early detect and guide treatment. New research focusing on novel approaches of liquid biopsies detecting early stages of cancer symbolizes the past work of oncology medicine pioneers such as Dr. May Chinn, whose vision of more accessible non-invasive screening options for cancer is coming to life.
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