Health Disparities in Cancer Research
- Monita Mitra
- May 13, 2023
- 3 min read
It is common knowledge that cancer decimates bodily systems and is a serious illness. Cancer doesn’t see a person’s age, race, ethnicity, fitness level, or lifestyle habits before it completely turns that person’s life upside down. While receiving a cancer diagnosis can be attributed to chance, can we say the same about cancer treatment? Around the world, numerous case studies and research have shown that getting access to cancer treatment itself is not a level playing field. This article will help you understand the inequalities present in the oncological (cancer) field.
What is Cancer Disparity?
According to the National Cancer Institute, cancer disparities occur when “certain groups bear a disproportionate burden of cancer compared with other groups.”
Why do Cancer Disparities occur?
Cancer Disparities mostly occur due to social, environmental, and economic disadvantages.
When looking at evidence of cancer disparities, researchers tend to look at a wide variety of factors such as mortality, access to treatment, screening rates, survival, quality of life after cancer treatment, etc. The National Cancer Institute also emphasizes that the medical society’s lack of knowledge of cancer disparities may stem from the fact that minority cancer patients often don’t have the access (or luxury) to participate in clinical trials so researchers can gather more information about them.
Screening Statistics
According to the Prevent Cancer Foundation, “Asian American, American Indians, and Hispanic women are less likely to have had a mammogram in the past year.” The Prevent Cancer Foundation states that the low socioeconomic status commonly associated with these minority groups may be the cause for this. Furthermore, the United States has one of the most expensive healthcare systems in the world. This correlates with the fact that many of these minority groups cannot afford basic health insurance. These two factors explain why these groups don’t go for mammogram screenings. And in the low chance that they are screened for cancer, most of them barely have the means to be able to pay for the treatment and live their daily lives.
Death Rates
The American Association for Cancer Research highlights in their findings that African American men have a 39% higher risk of dying from prostate cancer than that of the average American male. Furthermore, the AACR’s research also shows that men living in the poorest counties of the United States are 35% more likely to die from colorectal cancer than men living in the richest counties. This again highlights the inequities in money and access to treatment that we see in our healthcare system today. The grim reality is that people living in rural, poor cities or who are part of minority groups that generally can’t afford basic healthcare costs are not able to have an adequate chance to survive the battle against cancer.
What can you do about Cancer Disparities?
In order to eradicate disparities, it is important to make significant changes to our healthcare system in the United States. One step that you can do today is to contact your local Senator or House Representative about increasing government spending towards healthcare in minority communities across the United States. Additionally, you can also support cancer disparities research by donating money to organizations or participating in clinical trials (if you are part of a minority group). Some well-known organizations that are involved in cancer disparity research are the University of Michigan, American Cancer Society, Cancer Network, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
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