News In Brief

UC Davis Cancer Center to provide prostate cancer treatment to uninsured men

As part of a new state program, the UC Davis Cancer Center is one of three University of California medical centers selected to provide prostate cancer treatment at no cost to low-income men who lack health insurance.

The program, known as IMPACT (for Improving Access, Counseling, and Treatment for Californians with Prostate Cancer), has received funding of up to $50 million for the first three years.

Besides UC Davis, UCLA and UC San Francisco are partners in the new program. IMPACT is funded and managed by the state Department of Health Services. UCLA will administer the contract.

S"This program will offer state-of-the-art prostate cancer treatment to a population of men who often do not have access to these services: the poor and the working poor," said Ralph deVere White, director of the UC Davis Cancer Center and chair of the UC Davis School of Medicine and Medical Center Department of Urology. "This is very much in keeping with our mission as a regional cancer center and we're happy to participate."

IMPACT will pay for comprehensive prostate cancer treatment to men who do not qualify for Medi-Cal or Medicare and who have annual incomes 200 percent or more below the federal poverty level. Treatment and follow-up care will be available for up to 18 months. Patients will also be eligible to enroll in clinical trials of promising new cancer treatments.

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men and the second leading cause of cancer death in men. More than 21,000 men in California are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year.

For more information, call the UC Davis Cancer Center IMPACT program at (916) 734-5793 or visit the program's Web site, http://www.california-impact.