Colon Cancer More Deadly for Blacks
African Americans Diagnosed Too Late, Can't be Saved
Dec 15, 2008
According to the study presented by the American Cancer Society, improvement in the numbers is largely due to prevention and early detection, through colonoscopy, as well as other screening methods. The ACS has been recommending for several years now, that screenings be done yearly, upon reaching the age of 50. Because of this recommendation, rates for colorectal cancer have been on the decline since 1980s, according to the report.
The study revealed, however, that Blacks are 45% more likely to die from colon cancer than Whites during a five year period ending in 2005. The gap was 40% over a five year span that ended in 2001. 20% more Blacks than Whites were also diagnosed during the five year period that ended in 2005.
Before the study, back in 1980, the rates between the two groups were comparable. Rates for Black men were actually lower than White men, and similar for Black women and White women. So what has changed over the course of the study? Doctors are at a loss to explain why the rates were so high back in the 1980s, in the first place. Now, they speculate the difference is time of diagnosis.
Doctors think Blacks are not being tested or screened at the same frequency that Whites are screened. As a result, Blacks are usually diagnosed after the disease has spread beyond the colon into other areas of the body, making treatment and recovery very difficult, if not impossible. The study also says that Blacks are less likely to get the surgical treatment and necessary after-therapy.
If caught early enough, say doctors, then colorectal cancer is often curable.
Dr. Daniel Blumenthal, chair of the Morehouse School of Medicine's Department of Community Health and Preventive Medicine, and a participant in the study, termed the differences, “a mystery,” especially when Hispanic figures are added in.
The screening rate for Hispanics is an even-lower 32 percent, but the death rate for Hispanics — fewer than 13 per 100,000 — is lower than it is for whites.
That paradox is not unique to colon cancer: Poorly insured Hispanics have fared better than whites and blacks in several measures of cancer and heart disease, according to cancer experts.
The American Cancer Society says that 149,000 people will be diagnosed this year, and of that number, 50,000 people will die. Colorectal cancer is the third leading cancer cause of death in the United States.
Some of the risk factors include, a family history of the disease, obesity, diets high in fat, a large consumption of red meat, lack of exercise and eating a lot of processed meat. Smoking may also contribute, according to some cancer experts.
