Racial disparities in US cancer deaths are shrinking, study finds

https://www.cnn.com/2019/02/14/health/cancer-racial-disparities-study/index.html

By Jacqueline Howard, CNN
Updated 10:01 AM ET, Thu February 14, 2019

Racial disparities in cancer deaths between black and white patients in the United States are receding -- but more progress is needed to completely close the gap for some cancer types and age groups, according to a new study.

Among men, the overall cancer death rate was 47% higher for blacks than for whites in 1990, but that difference dropped to 19% in 2016, and the disparity has been nearly eliminated in men younger than 50, according to the study published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians on Thursday.

Among women, the disparity decreased from 19% in 1990 to 13% in 2016 and was nearly eliminated for women 70 and older.

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