We’re on our way

The Knight Cancer Institute mobile outreach van is dedicated to ending the burden of cancer across Oregon — one mile at a time.

Stretching more than 96,000 square miles, the state of Oregon spans mountains, rivers, valleys and deserts. It also has major health disparities, especially in cancer care.

As part of the Community Outreach and Engagement team, we’re on a mission to amplify cancer outreach to communities throughout our state. We work with local partners to bring tools and resources to help all the people of Oregon lead longer, healthier lives.

What we do

We team up with local partners to provide resources to educate, prevent, detect and treat cancer. Some examples:

• HPV vaccines: The human papilloma virus (HPV) is linked to about 47,000 new cases of cancer every year. Most could be prevented with HPV vaccines. We work with local partners to provide education and give vaccines.
• Skin cancer screening: Skin cancer is linked to sun exposure. Survival rates are 99% if the cancer is caught early. But this drops to 25% once the cancer spreads. We work with local partners to provide education and check moles.
• FIT kits: Colorectal cancer is the third most common type of cancer, with about 150,000 new cases every year. Survival rates are 91% if the cancer is caught early. But this drops to 16% once the cancer spreads. FIT kits are take-home stool tests that detect early signs of cancer. We provide education, give out FIT kits and work with local partners on follow-up.
• Clinical trials: Clinical trials give patients ways to detect cancer early and to try promising new therapies. But the patients who enroll in clinical trials are overwhelmingly white, younger and live in urban areas. We work with local partners to provide education and connect people to clinical trials such as Pathfinder 2.

Where we go

• County fairs
• Street fairs
• Health fairs
• Block parties
• Community events
• Other events throughout Oregon

Partners

We work with a wide range of community partners, including:

• Casey Eye Institute
• Oregon Poison Center
• East County Community Health
• Crook County Public Health
• Northwest Human Services