Cancer gaps remain for African Americans

The latest figures show many improvements have been made in cancer treatments and care for African Americans within the last decade. Since 1990 nearly 200,000 cancer deaths in black Americans have been avoided. But cancer death rates for both African American men and women are still higher than whites. Black women are 16 percent more likely to die from cancer than their white female counterparts. Latest research also shows that between 2005 and 2009, about 288 black men died from cancer out of every 100,000, compared to 217 white men. Experts say the new numbers show that more can and should be done to ensure equal access to cancer prevention, early detection and state-of-the-art treatments for all Americans.

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