(ANNOUNCER OPEN):
I'm Tina James-Tafoya with National Native News.

In today's news, Native Americans and Alaska Natives have some of the highest rates of cancer in the country. That's according to the National Cancer Institute. Cancer organizations like the American Cancer Society are highlighting Minority Cancer Awareness Week. The educational campaigns about the disease began last Sunday.

According the Deputy Director of the Center to Reduce Health Disparities, Native Americans are a big part of their outreach campaign. Nadarajen Vydelingum heads the center and says cancer kills many Native Americans every year:

(VYDELINGUM):
"The American Indians and Alaska Natives continue to have the poorest survival from all cancers combined than any other racial groups."

(ANNOUNCER):
Vydelingum says diet, environmental issues and poor quality health care contribute to the rates of the disease in tribal communities. Cancer is considered the second leading cause of death in Native Americans. The types of cancer, Vydelingum says, vary depending on geographic location. For example, lung and colon cancer rates are high in Alaska Native communities, but Southwest tribes have higher rates of stomach and gall bladder cancer.

Vydelingum adds insufficient data makes it hard to tell just how bad the disease is in Indian country:

(VYDELINGUM):
"Many different institutes around the country are trying to build databases and there is no single national database that accurately presents comprehensive cancer data for American Indians or Native Americans. There are also well-documented multiple errors and limitations in the cancer database. But given those limitations, I would also add there are some issues with classification of Native Americans."

(ANNOUNCER CLOSE):
The National Cancer Institute will continue its National Minority Cancer Awareness Week through Friday.