David Perdue, M.D., M.P.H.

The Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation has selected Minnesota to hold the first Dialogue for Action focusing specifically on American Indian colorectal cancer disparities. The program provides experience, guidance, and funding to plan and host a leadership summit to develop specific colorectal cancer control strategies. The University of Minnesota Cancer Center will be a part of this summit.

According to the Indian Health Service, colorectal cancer mortality rates in the Bemidji Service Unit (which includes Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin) are 130 percent higher than those of both the U.S. population and the American Indian/Alaska Native population as a whole. Colorectal cancer incidence among Minnesota Native Americans is 60 percent higher than in the non-Indian population.

David Perdue, M.D., M.P.H., gastroenterologist at the University of Minnesota, is co-chair of the project. "The aim of the summit will be to bring representatives from the various Indian Nations and urban Indian communities together with cancer experts and policy makers," says Perdue. "The intended result will be a community-based and culturally sensitive plan for colorectal cancer prevention and control."

The first goal is to form an intertribal cancer council with representation from the reservation and urban Indian communities, their health providers, the Department of Health, and the University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic cancer centers. "To be successful we must respect the sovereignty of our Indian Nations, and be available to assist them as they deem necessary," says Perdue. "It is my hope this project will be the catalyst for a successful intertribal coalition that will go forward to address other cancer issues."