The disproportionately lower cancer survival rate with increased incidence and mortality in minorities and underserved americans
✍ Scribed by James W. Hampton
- Publisher
- John Wiley and Sons
- Year
- 1998
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 86 KB
- Volume
- 83
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0008-543X
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
✦ Synopsis
all over the earth the faces of living things are all alike. With tenderness have these come up out of the ground. Look upon these faces of children without number and with children in their arms, that they may face the winds and walk the good road to the day of quiet."
-Black Elk
C ancer mortality appears to be declining for the population as a whole, whereas specific populations among the minorities and underserved people of the United States are suffering disproportionately from increased cancer mortality and poorer survival from cancer. 1,2 According to statistics supplied by the National Cancer Institute, the American Cancer Society, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, there are higher rates for cancer in African Americans, Hispanic Americans/Latinos, certain American Indians/ Alaska Natives, Pacific Islanders, and Asian Americans as well as among the poor, rural groups in Appalachia and immigrant groups. Only when the accuracy of the available statistics are obtained on all races and ethnicities can appropriate cancer screening and prevention programs be developed to impact the devastating effects of cancer on all Americans.
Poverty is a risk factor for cancer. Social class causes the barriers of race and ethnicity to affect all persons in the United States, including whites and immigrants. Poverty levels on the basis of the 1990 Census were cited as 32% for Native Americans, 32% for African Americans, 28% for Hispanics, 12% for Asians, and 11% for whites. 2 Data on the full impact of social class on lifestyle and behavior with the consequent cancer risk are virtually unknown.
Major improvements in national collection of epidemiologic data are missing for the special populations. This is true especially for American Indians: The two states with the largest populations of Native Americans, i.e., California and Oklahoma, lack accurate epidemiologic statistics to determine their cancer incidence and mortality. Survival statistics from cancer for Native Americans are available only for Arizona and Alaska. The Centers for Disease Control, working with state health departments, are making an effort to correct these data gaps as they seek to emphasize early detection of breast and cervical cancer in underserved women. The special cancer problems of minorities and the underserved are outlined in Table 1.