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Race Not Only Cause of Varying Cancer Rate

Posted on: Monday, 3 April 2006, 21:00 CDT

A study of women treated for breast cancer at Stroger Hospital in Chicago showed that socioeconomic status may have more effect on survival than does race.

Although the cancer mortality rate among African-American men is 40 percent higher than that of white men and 14 percent higher in black women, the study at Stroger, a public hospital where patients are typically uninsured and low-income, found the prognosis for patients of different races to be very similar.

Research presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual meeting showed that discrepancies in cancer death rates may be explained by lack of health insurance, poverty, language and cultural barriers, and inadequate access to early detection services and good medical care.

In a second study at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, it was shown that differing qualities of treatment were a factor. Dr. Hanaa S. Elhefni found that blacks were 20 percent less likely to have chemotherapy recommended for colorectal cancer than whites.

This disparity could be partly attributed to differences in risk factors, Elhefni said, but variations in medical practice may also be potential contributors.

Source: United Press International

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