Racial Disparities in Cancer Deaths Tighten Between Blacks and Whites

The dramatic declines in the number of deaths from lung cancer among African Americans have been particularly noticeable, according to the American Cancer Society.

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Siri Stafford / Getty Images

The dramatic declines in the number of deaths from lung cancer among African Americans have been particularly noticeable, according to the American Cancer Society.

Siri Stafford / Getty Images

For decades, the incidence of cancer and death from disease among African Americans in the United States far exceeded that of whites. But the latest analysis of national data by the American Cancer Society suggests that the "cancer gap" is shrinking: in recent years, death rates from four major cancers have declined more among blacks than among non-cancer patients. whites.

The report was published online Thursday in CA: A cancer journal for clinicians, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

African Americans still bear a disproportionate share of the cancer burden in the United States, with the highest death rate and the lowest survival rate of any racial or ethnic group for most cancers.

"By 2019, approximately 202,260 new cancer cases and 73,030 cancer deaths are expected to occur among blacks in the United States," notes the researchers' analysis of the ACS.

But their report also shows that the gap between blacks and whites has been drastically reduced in recent decades with regard to lung, prostate and colorectal cancers. In fact, between 2006 and 2015, the overall cancer death rate decreased by 2.6% per year among black men, compared to 1.6% per year among white men. For women, for the same period, the cancer mortality rate decreased by 1.5% per year among blacks, compared to 1.3% per year among whites.

"The decline in cancer mortality rates among blacks over the last 25 years has resulted in a reduction of more than 462,000 cancer deaths," the report said.

According to Dr. J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, Acting Medical Consultant of the American Cancer Society, this improvement among African Americans is due in large part to a dramatic decrease in the incidence and number of deaths due to lung cancer. .

"I can not say why smoking has decreased so much in the black community, but the fact that there is one is very good news," he said. "This has significantly reduced the gap between blacks and whites and we are very grateful for that."

Nevertheless, racial disparities in cancer persist. The reasons are probably multiple, notes Lichtenfeld, and include disparities in education, socio-economic status, and access to health care.

When the United States ensures that everyone has equal access to quality health care, testing and treatment, Mr. Lichtenfield says, "We will be even more successful. this happens. "