WEDNESDAY, May 15, 2024 (HealthDay News) — In its biennial Cancer Disparities Progress Report published today, the American Association for Cancer Research presents the latest statistics on disparities in cancer progress experienced by ethnic-minority groups and other medically underserved populations in the United States.

Robert A. Winn, M.D., from the Virginia Commonwealth University Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center in Richmond, and colleagues note that Black and Indigenous individuals have the highest overall cancer death rates of all U.S. racial and ethnic groups, although their overall cancer incidence rates are lower than those of White individuals. Black men are more than twice as likely than White men to die from prostate cancer; Black women have a 40 percent higher likelihood of dying from breast cancer; and Black individuals are twice as likely to be diagnosed with and die from multiple myeloma. Compared with White individuals, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian and Pacific Islander, and Hispanic individuals are more than twice as likely to die from stomach cancer; incidence and mortality rates for liver cancer are also higher among these groups.

The authors also report that among Asian women who have never smoked, lung cancer incidence is increasing. Residents of nonmetropolitan or rural counties are 38 percent more likely than those living in large metropolitan or urban areas to be diagnosed with and die from lung cancer. Notable disparities are also seen among sexual and gender minorities, including an increased risk for breast cancer among sexual-minority women and nearly double the likelihood of dying from prostate cancer for transgender women versus cisgender men.

“We have seen tremendous progress against cancer in the last few decades, but we must keep fighting to ensure equal access and improved health care delivery for all people,” Winn said in a statement.

AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2024

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