ACS Report: African Americans’ Cancer Death Rates Continue to Drop, Reducing Disparities for Some Cancer Types

By Stacy Simon Cancer death rates among African Americans have decreased continuously over the past 2 decades, resulting in 300,000 cancer deaths that were avoided since the early 1990s, according to a new report from the American Cancer Society. “Cancer Statistics for African Americans, 2016,” published in the American Cancer Society’s journal CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, along with its companion piece Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2016-2018, provides numbers on new cancer cases, deaths, survival, screening test use, and risk factors for African Americans. The report found that from 2003 to 2012, the overall cancer death rate declined faster among black men and women than white men and women in the US. (2.5% vs. 1.6% per year for men and 1.5% vs. 1.3% per year for women). RESOURCES: Cancer Statistics for African Americans, 2016Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2016-201810 Key Facts About Cancer in African AmericansThe Cancer Burden in African Americans: Our Expert's Take Racial gaps remain despite progress However, overall death rates for African Americans are still higher than for whites. And any progress was found for only some cancer types, while disparities have remained the same or increased for other cancer types. Death rates dropped faster in blacks than in whites for lung cancer in men and women, for prostate cancer in men, and for colorectal cancer in women. This has helped to narrow the gap...
Source: American Cancer Society :: News and Features - Category: Cancer & Oncology Tags: Disparities Source Type: news