According to a new report from the American Cancer Society, Black Americans and American Indian/Alaska Native (AIAN) people have significantly higher rates of cancer mortality than Americans of other racial and ethnic backgrounds.
In an analysis of several national databases on disparities in cancer occurrence and outcomes, the authors found the overall cancer mortality rate for Black men was 14 percent higher than their White counterparts. For Black women, their cancer mortality rate was 10 percent higher than White women, even though Black women had a 9 percent lower overall cancer incidence rate. AIAN men and women also had significantly higher cancer mortality rates than their White counterparts.
There are also major disparities in cancer mortality based on education. Overall, cancer mortality rates were higher for Black adults than for White adults with the same education level by 7 percent to 28 percent for men and by 2 percent to 43 percent among women. Among Black women, those with 12 years or less of education had a 71 percent higher cancer mortality rate than Black women with 16 years or more of education. For Black men, those with 12 years or less of education had a staggering 140 percent higher cancer mortality rate than Black men with at least 16 years of education.
“Under-resourced and minoritized groups continue to disproportionally experience barriers to cancer prevention, screening, diagnosis, quality treatment, and survivorship, largely reflecting disparities in social determinants of health,” said Dr. Farhad Islami, senior scientific director of cancer disparity research at the American Cancer Society and lead author of the study. “Broad implementation of existing evidence‐based interventions can reduce cancer disparities. We also need more research to identify factors that contribute to cancer disparities and other effective and tailored interventions, especially in populations that have been underrepresented in research studies.”
