Cancer and African Americans

African Americans have the highest mortality rate of any racial and ethnic group for all cancers combined and for most major cancers. Death rates for all major causes of death are higher for African Americans than for whites, contributing to a lower life expectancy for both African American men and African American women.

In 2004, African American men were 1.4 times as likely to have new cases of lung and prostate cancer, as compared to non-Hispanic white men.
African American men were almost twice as likely to have new cases of stomach cancer as non-Hispanic white men.
African Americans men had lower 5-year cancer survival rates for lung and pancreatic cancer, as compared to non-Hispanic white men.
In 2005, African American men were 2.4 times as likely to die from prostate cancer, as compared to non-Hispanic white men.
In 2005, African American women were 10% less likely to have been diagnosed with breast cancer, however, they were 34% more likely to die from breast cancer, as compared to non-Hispanic white women.
African American women are twice as likely to have been diagnosed with stomach cancer, and they are 2.4 times as likely to die from stomach cancer, as compared to non-Hispanic white women.

At a glance – New Cases:

**New Cancer Cases per 100,000 – Men (2004)**
Cancer	All Men	African American Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	African American/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	523.0	628.2	548.1	1.1
Stomach	11.5	15.4	9.1	1.7
Lung	69.3	98.4	72.5	1.4
Prostate	159.3	233.9	158.4	1.5
Pancreas	12.9	17.1	12.9	1.3
Colon and Rectum	54.8	70.9	55.3	1.3

**New Cancer Cases per 100,000 – Women (2004)**
Cancer	All Women	African American Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	African American/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	394.1	396.7	426.7	0.9
Stomach	5.8	7.2	4.0	1.8
Cervical	7.7	9.5	6.5	1.5
Pancreas	9.9	13.6	9.9	1.4
Colon and Rectum	40.7	51.6	41.0	1.3
Breast	121.0	118.8	132.7	0.9

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 53.
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf

At a glance – Top Cancer Sites for African Americans (2001-2005):

**Cancer Incidence Rates per 100,000 – Men**
Cancer	All Men	African American Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	African American/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	549.3	651.5	568.3	1.1
Prostate	163.0	248.5	161.5	1.5
Lung & Bronchus	79.4	107.6	79.5	1.4
Colon & Rectum	59.2	71.2	59.5	1.2
Oral Cavity & Pharynx	15.5	17.2	16.6	1.0
Stomach	11.3	17.4	9.3	1.9
Kidney & Renal Pelvis	18.3	21.3	18.8	1.1
Pancreas	13.0	16.2	13.3	1.2
Larynx	6.4	10.9	6.2	1.8
Esophagus	7.8	9.9	8.3	1.2
Liver & IBD	9.9	13.2	7.3	1.8

At a glance – Top Cancer Sites for African Americans (2001-2005):

**Cancer Incidence Rates per 100,000 – Women**
Cancer	All Women	African American Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	African American/Non- Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	411.0	398.9	439.7	0.9
Breast	126.1	117.5	138.2	1.0
Colon & Rectum	43.8	54.5	43.8	1.2
Lung & Bronchus	52.6	54.6	57.3	1.0
Pancreas	10.3	14.3	10.1	1.4
Cervix	8.4	10.8	7.0	1.5
Stomach	5.5	8.9	4.0	2.2
Kidney	9.2	10.1	9.3	1.1

Source: NCI 2008. Seer Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2005. Tables I-20 4 - I-28, and II-10 to XIVII-12.
http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2005/results_merged/topic_race_ethnicity.pdf [PDF | 1.2MB]

At a glance – 5 Year Survival Rate:

**Percent of Patients, Men (1996-2003)**
Cancer	African American Men	White Men	African American/ White Ratio
All Sites	59.2	66.6	0.9
Stomach	22.1	20.4	1.1
Lung	10.8	13.6	0.8
Prostate	95.3	99.0	1.0
Pancreas	3.2	5.3	0.6
Colon	56.1	65.8	0.9

**Percent of Patients – Women (1996-2003)**
Cancer	African American Women	White Women	African American/White Ratio
All Sites	54.5	67.4	0.8
Cervical	65.8	74.3	0.9
Pancreas	5.8	4.4	1.3
Colon	53.7	65.5	0.8
Breast	77.9	90.3	0.9

Source: CDC, 2007. Health United States, 2007. Table 54
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hus/hus07.pdf

At a glance – Death Rate:

**Cancer Death Rates per 100,000 – Men (2001-2005)**
Cancer	African American Men	Non-Hispanic White Men	African American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	313.0	235.6	1.3
Stomach	11.5	4.7	2.4
Lung	93.1	74.2	1.3
Prostate	59.4	24.6	2.4
Pancreas	15.4	12.3	1.3
Colon & Rectum	31.8	22.5	1.4

**Cancer Death Rates per 100,000 – Women (2001-2005)**
Cancer	African American Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	African American/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
All Sites	186.7	163.0	1.1
Stomach	5.5	2.3	2.4
Cervical	4.7	2.2	2.1
Pancreas	12.4	9.1	1.4
Colon and Rectum	22.4	15.6	1.4
Breast	33.5	25.0	1.3

Source: NCI 2008. Seer Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2005. Table I-20.
http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2005/results_merged/topic_race_ethnicity.pdf [PDF | 1.2MB]

At a Glance – Screening:

Breast Cancer

**Percent of women age 40 and over who had a mammogram within the past 2 years, 2005(age-adjusted)**
Non-Hispanic Black Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	Non-Hispanic Black/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
64.3	68.2	0.9

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 1A_b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

Cervical Cancer

**Percent of women age 18 and over who had a Pap smear within the past 3 years, 2005 (age-adjusted)**
Non-Hispanic Black Women	Non-Hispanic White Women	Non-Hispanic Black/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
80.2	79.1	1.0

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 3b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

Colon Cancer

**Percent of men and women age 50 and over who report they ever received a colonoscopy, 2005 (age-adjusted)**
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
42.4	52.9	0.8

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 6b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

**Percent of men and women age 50 and over who report they had a fecal occult blood test within the past 2 years, 2005 (age-adjusted)**
Non-Hispanic Black	Non-Hispanic White	Non-Hispanic Black/Non-Hispanic White Ratio
15.7	17.9	0.9

Source: 2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report. Table 7b.
http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/nhdr07/index.html

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Content Last Modified: 1/9/2009 10:43:00 AM