Few care for the undocumented with breast cancer

Flor regrets that she didn't come sooner to Maricopa Medical Center Oncology Clinic. "When I found out, I was desperate because I thought I was going to die," said Flor, 46, an undocumented women who asked that her name not to be revealed. "I didn't want to look for help because of my immigration status." Instead she did what neighbors told her to do for breast cancer: drink tea from a yerberia--an alternative medicine store--and use homemade ointments to reduce the swelling. When she arrived at the clinic two years ago, she was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, a form of advanced cancer that begins in the breast and spreads to other organs. This type of cancer cannot be cured, but it can be treated. For now Flor's condition is stable, but she will never be in remission, where her symptoms disappear. "When they come here it is often too late," said Yolanda Tufail, a registered nurse who works on chemotherapy infusion at the Maricopa Medical Center Oncology Clinic. The clinic provides something of a rarity in Arizona: access to chemotherapy for breast cancer, doctor consultations and medicine at an affordable rate. Undocumented women with breast cancer in Arizona have to rely on community clinics and sliding scale fees to get services. Help is not easy to find. When it does arrive, economic barriers and fear of deportation often stand in the way or delay treatment. Nationally this population faces an uphill battle navigating the health care system. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that 6 in 10 Latinos who are undocumented immigrants lack health insurance. Latina women are more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage of breast cancer and have a higher mortality rate than white women, according to the American Cancer Society. Foregoing Treatment Undocumented women are more likely to forego treatment because of the costs involved with their care, said Mollie Williams, director of community health programs for Susan G. Komen for the Cure, a foundation that provides grants for services and education on cancer. "It is likely for these women to fall through the cracks." Williams said in some cases service providers who receive grants from the foundation have reported that women were able to cover the cost of their mastectomy and initial care using their state Medicaid emergency insurance. This type of coverage is available to anyone, regardless of immigration status. But breast cancer is a complex disease that requires an assortment of specialists, expensive medicines and follow-up care. Treatment could extend for up to five years and cost between $20,000 to $60,000. In some areas community clinics can only diagnose the cancer, but there is no follow up. "We are able to screen them, but there's not much we can do after that," said Lucy Murrieta, an outreach community relations manager for the Sunset Community Health Center in Yuma County. The center, near the Arizona-Mexico border, provides primary health services to over 6,000 agricultural workers, about 60 percent of whom are women. The center doesn't inquire about women's immigration status, said Murrieta.