By The National Cancer Institute    
GUEST COMMENTARY    

Every year, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) collaborates with other organizations to release the Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer. When this report is released, the question is always the same: Are we are making any progress against cancer?

This year, the report confirms that we are making advances in the fight against many types of this disease.  Over the past decade or so, there has been a decrease of nearly one percent each year in the incidence of new cases of cancer and an even greater decline, of about 1.6 percent each year, in the rate of cancer deaths.  That could be tens of thousands of people spared the pain of this disease in a given year.

Disparities remain

In spite of this progress, disparities in cancer incidence and death still exist. 

The report shows that African-American men still have the highest incidence of all cancers combined and that African-American men and women have the highest overall rates of cancer deaths – and that is not good news.

Research has uncovered some of the underlying factors that predispose some people to poorer outcomes. The most obvious factors are associated with a lack of health care coverage and low socioeconomic status.  In particular, people of lower socioeconomic status often have lower access to screening and treatment and may be more likely to smoke, have a poor diet, drink too much alcohol, and be physically inactive.

More work needs to be done to get the very latest advances in screening, diagnosis and treatment – as well as information about how to improve personal health behaviors – to all Americans.  ?But according to this year’s report, there are also reasons to be encouraged. 

Global declines

For example, rates of death from colorectal cancer, a leading killer of African-Americans, declined for African-Americans, as they did for every racial/ethnic group.  Prostate cancer incidence declined in both African-American and Hispanic men, and breast cancer incidence dropped in African-American women, as in women of other racial/ethnic groups.

So what does this mean for African-Americans? There are places to turn to for help and reliable information when you want to know more about cancer or when you are confronted with the disease.  As the primary federal leader in cancer research, NCI continues to maintain a focus on cancer health disparities as a part of its portfolio of education, awareness, and research activities. ?You can never know too much about cancer.

If you prefer the Internet, visit the NCI Web site, www.cancer.gov. You can also order free publications at the Web site, or phone 1-800-4-CANCER (1-800-422-6237) to talk with an information specialist from NCI’s Cancer Information Service.  ?Take advantage of every resource available to you to get smart about cancer.