Cancer Deaths Remain High In Blacks
Every April, health organizations work to raise awareness about cancer among minorities during National Minority Health Month, including National Minority Cancer Awareness Week.
Several new studies indicate the racial gap for cancer deaths remain stubbornly high for blacks in a number of cancers that are easily detectable. Estimates for 2013 indicate that 176,620 new cases of cancer and 64,880 deaths will occur among African-Americans. While some new reports from the early 1990s illustrate a decline among cancer rates among black men, the death rate for all cancers is 25 percent higher for blacks than whites and the racial disparity for breast and colon cancer widened - cancers screening tests make a difference. Researchers explain that there many possible explanations exist, including genetics, differences in wealth and education, as well as the treatment of blacks by doctors.
Every two years, the American Cancer Society releases its Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans report. The 2013 issue reveals that death rates dropped faster for black men than men in any other group. Nevertheless, death rates for all cancers combined remain 33 percent higher in black men compared to white men for major cancers, including lung, prostate, and colon.
According to a Feb. 5 study in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, the death rate narrowed the most between black and white men during the last decade, falling 2.4 percent every year for black men, compared to 1.7 percent for white men. But black women cancer rates are 16 percent and reveal they are more likely to die from cancer even though they are 6 percent less likely to get cancer. The researchers also found that while the racial gap was closing for smoking-related and prostate cancers, the disparity continues to widen for colon and breast cancer.
Breast cancer strikes one out of eight women within their lifetime, and the highest rates hit black women under 40, according to the American Cancer Society. One problem is that black women seem to get the deadliest forms of breast cancer, and are more likely to die from the disease.
According to data presented at the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting held April 6-10, 2013, researchers from Kaiser Permanente in Oakland followed nearly 1,700 breast cancer patients for over six years and found black patients were twice as likely as white patients to die regardless of the type of breast cancer.
African-American breast cancer survivors are also 1.4 times more likely to develop heart failure than white survivors although both had the same risk of dying from the condition, according to a March 2013 American College of Cardiology study.
"In general, African-American women are more susceptible to heart problems as they are disproportionately affected by high blood pressure, obesity, diabetes, high oxidative stress, and even vitamin D deficiency," said researcher Dr. Anna Valina-Toth.
Breast cancer survivors benefit from regular physical activity, yet few meet national exercise recommendations after the diagnoses, according to a study released April 17 by the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Prostate cancer is not only the most common cancer, but also the second leading cause of death among all men. Black men have the highest rate for prostate cancer and 2.4 times more likely to die of the disease than white men - a survival rate that is the highest of any type of cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute. This higher rate prompted the NCI’s Cancer Genetic Markers of Susceptibility program to hypothesis that genetic factors might partly account for the differences.
Another issue is treatment. Black men on average wait a week longer than their white counterparts for diagnosis and treatment, according to a University of North Carolina research study published March 28.
Colon cancer is the third most common cancer and the second leading cause of all cancer related deaths. But a January 2013 study found blacks have a lower screening rate than whites, which results in blacks have a 20 percent higher risk of developing colon cancer and a 45 percent higher death rate, according to the Colon Cancer Alliance.
To counter this, the Delaware Cancer Consortium developed a novel program that includes insurance coverage for screening and cancer care for the uninsured. An April 15 study of the Delaware program in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found advanced colon cancer cases diagnosed among blacks declined from 79 percent to 40 percent between 2002 and 2009 thanks to the early screening.
"The Consortium demonstrated that racial disparities can be mitigated by providing equal care and equal access," said Blase N. Polite, at University of Chicago Medical Center.
In the February report in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, researchers found that between 1990 and 2009 the lung cancer death rate for black men fell by 2.4 percent every year, partially due to more black men stopping smoking in comparison to only 1.7 percent for white men.
According to the American Cancer Society, the incidence and death from lung cancer is still higher in black men than white men. “This is partly due to the types and amount of cigarettes smoked among African Americans differing from whites, but requires more research,” notes ACS.
National Cancer Institute research shows that “those more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage diseases, treated or even cured, include individuals from medically underserved populations. Financial, physical and cultural beliefs are also barriers that prevent individuals or groups from obtaining effective healthcare.”
Carol DeSantis with the American Cancer Society notes that "Overall, progress in reducing cancer death rates has been made, although more can and should be done to accelerate this progress through ensuring equitable access to cancer prevention, early detection, and state-of-the-art treatments."
Unfortunately, as newer, more expensive treatments become available, there disparity will continue to widen for people who don't have equal access, according to DeSantis.