The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has created a $750,000 fund to help minority patients get cancer care, a response in part to a federal finding that African Americans were underrepresented in clinical trials at the UPMC Cancer Center.

The fund is part of an effort called the African American Outreach Program that hopes to combat the disproportionately high number of cancer cases and deaths among African Americans, a problem both here and across the country.

The money will help fill financial gaps that prevent patients with four common types of cancer -- breast, colorectal, lung and prostate -- from getting high-quality care, including innovative clinical trials, said Dr. Ronald Herberman, director of the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute.

In a report issued in June, reviewers from the National Cancer Institute found that African Americans participate in UPMC clinical trials at a lower rate than might be expected given their share of the Allegheny County population, Dr. Herberman said.

While 30 to 40 African Americans participate in cancer trials at UPMC each year, exactly what percentage of the whole that represents wasn't clear yesterday. About 12 percent of residents in Allegheny County are African American, yet they account for just 3 percent of the roughly 33,000 patients treated at the UPMC Cancer Center each year, said Dr. Steven Evans, a surgical oncologist.

The low participation rate here is part of a national problem, Dr. Herberman added.

"The National Cancer Institute, and the federal government, is concerned about addressing the disproportionate burden of cancer in African Americans and other minority groups," he said. "The strong conviction [is] that participation in clinical trials, and ready access to them, is important for the optimum outcomes for the diagnosis of cancer."

Jon Kerner, deputy director of the division of cancer control and population sciences at the National Cancer Institute, said cancer hits African Americans harder for a variety of reasons, many of them socio-economic. Minority groups often have less health insurance to begin with, he said, and the insurance they have might preclude coverage for clinical trials.

The pilot program at UPMC sounds promising, Mr. Kerner said, because it doesn't limit financial support to patients involved in clinical trials but would, instead, help a broad group of cancer patients.

Dr. Evans and other UPMC officials will announce the new outreach program at a Feb. 28 kick-off event at the Hillman Cancer Center. It is not open to the public.

Dr. Evans said the outreach event is designed to include primary care doctors of all races. These doctors, he explained, can help spread the word that financial help from UPMC is available for patients who seek care at one of four locations: the Hillman Cancer Center in Shadyside, UPMC Braddock, UPMC McKeesport and Magee-Womens Hospital.

UPMC will have a dedicated phone number for the program, with a social worker standing by to help doctors and patients learn about getting help. The social worker might arrange for transportation or child care that otherwise could be a barrier for care, said Lyn Robertson, associate director of patient care services at the Hillman Cancer Center. Patients also would be given access to a "navigator," who will help them find their way through the health care system.

The $750,000 fund could cover the cost of gaps in a patient's health insurance. Some plans, for example, might not cover the cost of drugs taken orally to deal with side effects of chemotherapy, Ms. Robertson said. Other coverage gaps likely will be discovered during the course of the new program, said Dr. Evans.

"Our former processes have failed," he said. "That's why we're partnering with so many other entities [such as the American Cancer Society] to make this dream a reality."