Health Disparities in Cancer

Increasing early cancer detection, promoting healthy lifestyles, and expanding access to health care help reduce inequalities in cancer among groups at greatest risk. Public health agencies, health care providers, and communities must partner to reduce disparities.

According to CDC’s Office of Minority Health and Health Equity (OMHHE), life expectancy and overall health have improved for most Americans in recent years, but not all Americans have benefited equally. CDC and its partners monitor trends in cancer incidence (diagnosis), mortality (deaths), and survival (life after a cancer diagnosis) to identify which groups are affected more than others.
Photo: A man and woman.

Health disparities are differences in the incidence, prevalence, mortality, and survival of a disease and the related adverse health conditions that exist among specific population groups. Disparities affect many populations, including racial and ethnic minorities, residents of rural areas, women, children and adolescents, the elderly, people with disabilities, and the uninsured.¹
Among U.S. men, for all cancers combined—

The rate of new cancer cases is highest among black men, followed by white, Hispanic*, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native men.²
Death rates are highest among black men, followed by white, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic*, and Asian/Pacific Islander men.²

Among U.S. women, for all cancers combined—

The rate of new cancer cases is highest among white women, followed by black, Hispanic*, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.²
Death rates are highest among black women, followed by white, American Indian/Alaska Native, Hispanic*, and Asian/Pacific Islander women.²

*Hispanic is not mutually exclusive from white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, or American Indian/Alaska Native.

What CDC Is Doing

Research

Researchers at CDC have been studying which groups of people have not benefited equally from recent improvements in health care. Some of CDC’s recent studies were about—

CDC Programs That Help Reduce Health Disparities in Cancer

CDC’s National Breast and Cervical Cancer Early Detection Program provides mammograms, Pap tests, and breast and cervical cancer treatment to low-income, medically underserved, and uninsured women through states, tribes, and territories.
CDC’s National Comprehensive Cancer Control Program provides seed money, structure, and support for comprehensive cancer control plans in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, 7 tribes, and 7 U.S. Associated Pacific Islands and territories. Many plans include strategies to reduce cancer disparities.
CDC’s Colorectal Cancer Control Program provides funding to 25 states and 4 tribes across the United States for five years. The program supports population-based screening efforts and provides colorectal cancer screening services to low-income men and women aged 50-64 years who are underinsured or uninsured for screening, when no other insurance is available.
CDC funds the Cancer Prevention and Control Research Network, which works with communities and partners to find ways to increase screening for cancer and reduce health disparities related to cancer.

¹National Cancer Institute. Health Disparities Defined.

Rockville, MD: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute.
²U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group. United States Cancer Statistics: 1999–2009 Incidence and Mortality Web-based Report. Atlanta (GA): Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and National Cancer Institute; 2013. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/uscs.