Lo que no se ve: Indigenous-centered cancer prevention and survivorship equity in California

This poster examines how culturally grounded cancerprevention and screening programs in Indigenous Latino communities informcancer survivorship research - using California as a well-documented caseexample. California is home to one of the largest Indigenous Mexicanpopulations in the United States, estimated in the hundreds of thousands, yetIndigenous identity is rarely captured in cancer prevention, screening, orsurvivorship research. While Latino populations are often treated as culturallyhomogeneous in cancer research, Indigenous communities experience distinctlinguistic, cultural, and structural barriers that shape engagement with cancerprevention services and long-term survivorship outcomes. Drawing on astructured review of cancer prevention and screening interventions implementedamong Indigenous Mexican communities in California - with comparative insightsfrom Indigenous-focused interventions in Mexico and broader internationalevidence that demonstrate the importance of culturally grounded cancerprevention approaches - this project synthesizes evidence on how factors suchas Indigenous language access, community trust, and culturally specific healtheducation influence participation in cancer prevention and screening. Theposter highlights how survivorship outcomes commonly attributed to “Latinoculture” may depend on whether Indigenous identity is explicitly acknowledgedand centered in intervention design. By placing California-based Indigenouscancer prevention research in direct conversation with cancer survivorshipframeworks, this work identifies gaps in how protective factors and equity arecurrently conceptualized in Latino cancer research. The findings underscore theneed for survivorship research and prevention strategies that account forheterogeneity within Latino populations and offer implications for developingculturally responsive interventions that can support improved survivorshipequity both within California and in other regions with Indigenous Latinocommunities in the U.S..