Download Lung Cancer as it Impacts African-Americans

Lung Cancer as it Impacts African-Americans
LUNG CANCER is the leading cancer killer among all ethnic groups.
LUNG CANCER kills more people than the other major cancers combined.
LUNG CANCER kills three times as many men as prostate cancer.
LUNG CANCER kills twice as many women as breast cancer.
African-American Cancer Deaths
Highest Mortality Types
United States Cancer Deaths
Highest Mortality Types
Stomach
Stomach
Melanoma
Melanoma
Brain
Brain
Non-Hodgkins lymphoma
Non-Hodgkins lymphoma
Esophagus
Esophagus
Kidney
Kidney
Lung
Ovary
Lung
Ovary
Liver
Liver
Leukemia
Leukemia
Prostate
Prostate
Colorectal
Pancreas
Breast
Breast
*All races/both sexes, Source: Centers for Disease Prevention & Control
African-American Men Have
Disproportionately Higher
Rates Of Lung Cancer
Incidence and Mortality
**Both sexes, Source: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
Lung Cancer Diagnoses and Mortality Rates
US 2000-03
120
SEER 17 Incidence
100
* rate per 100.000 people in each category,
age-adjusted to 2000 US standard population
80
SEER Statistics Review (1975-2003), National Cancer Institute
60
African-American men get diagnosed at a
37% higher rate and die at a 43% higher
rate than white men.
Colorectal
Pancreas
SEER 17 Mortality
40
20
0
AfricanAmerican Men
White
Men
AfricanAmerican Women
NO MORE EXCUSES. NO MORE LUNG CANCER.
1747 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 1150, Washington, DC 20006
202-463-2080
800-298-2436 hotline
lungcanceralliance.org
White
Women
Smoking Does Not Explain
the Disparity in Incidence
A Proposal for
Immediate Intervention:
• The percentage of African-Americans and
whites who smoke is the same.
• African-Americans smoke fewer cigarettes
per day (12) than whites (18).
Barriers to Care Add to
Higher Mortality Rate
• Lack of access to care.
• Less access to technological advances such
as CT scanning.
• More African-Americans below Medicare age
are uninsured (21%) than whites (13%).
• African-Americans with lung cancer are less
likely to see oncologists.
• Even with adequate care, African-American
patients are less likely to get surgery,
chemotherapy or radiation therapy than
white patients.
Biggest Barrier: The
Underfunding of Research
When So Many Questions
Need to Be Answered
Are African-Americans more sensitive to
cigarette damage?
Why does a type of family history of lung cancer
seem to put African Americans at higher risk
whether they smoked or not?
How is risk related to military service and
exposure to asbestos, Agent Orange and other
carcinogens?
What other environmental triggers in inner-cities
or on the job may be involved?
What about socio-economic factors, diet and
medical histories?
Lung cancer is extremely lethal because over
70% of all cases are being diagnosed at such
late stage that the cancer has already spread.
Most die within months of diagnosis and the
overall 5-year survival rate is only 15%.
However, recent studies have demonstrated
that screening a high risk population with CT
scanners can yield an estimated 10-year
survival rate of 92% in 85% of the cases
diagnosed. This profound improvement must
be brought as quickly as possible to the
African-American community. Screening will
not only save lives. Linking the data from
CT scans to research programs can help to
finally answer many of the questions about
the disparate impact of lung cancer on
African-Americans.
Historically Black College and Universities’
(HBCUs) medical and research centers and
their affiliates and community hospitals
serving African-American populations should
be empowered by Congress to take the
lead on resolving lung cancer disparity and
reducing overall incidence and mortality rates
through screening and research programs
that are funded in amounts proportionate to
the public health impact of lung cancer.
Sources:
Lathan C S et al. “Effect of race on invasive staging and surgery in non-small
cell lung cancer,” Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2006 Jan 20;24(3):413-8.
Schwartz AG et al. “Risk of Lung C ancer Among White and Black Relatives
of Individuals with Early-Onset Lung C ancer,” JAMA, 2005 June
22/29;293(24):3036-42
Brawley O., “Lung cancer and race: Equal Treatment Yields Equal Outcome
Among Equal Patients, but There Is No Equal Treatment,” Journal of Clinical
Oncology, 2006 Jan 20;24(3):332-33.
Earle C C et al. “Impact of referral patterns on the use of chemotherapy for
lung cancer,” Journal of Clinical Oncology, 2002 Apr 1;20(7):1786-92.
C enters for Disease Control and Prevention
National C ancer Institute, Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program
(SEER), SEER 17 Registries 2000-2003.
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
NO MORE EXCUSES. NO MORE LUNG CANCER.
1747 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 1150, Washington, DC 20006
202-463-2080
800-298-2436 hotline
lungcanceralliance.org