Cancer, minorities, and the medically underserved: A call to action.

In an edited excerpt from her opening address delivered on March 24, 2004, at the Ninth Biennial Symposium on Minorities, the Medically Underserved, and Cancer in Washington, DC, former US Surgeon General Antonia C. Novello, MD, Dr. PH, encouraged health professionals to dispense with "age-old approaches" that have failed to eliminate health disparities affecting minorities and go in a "bold new direction." She urges new efforts focusing on the root causes of disparities including lack of health insurance, lack of access to culturally sensitive and language-appropriate health care, and institutional racism in health care.