# Cancer health disparities and equity

Source: https://onco.cc/terms/cancer-health-disparities/  
OnCo record `cancer-health-disparities` (Term). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Systematic differences in who gets cancer, how early it is found and who survives, driven by race, income, geography, insurance and structural racism rather than biology alone.

## Summary

In the US, Black patients have the highest death rate for most cancers (e.g. ~40% higher breast cancer mortality than White women despite similar incidence, 2× prostate cancer mortality, worse outcomes in multiple myeloma and colorectal cancer); rural patients, uninsured patients and American Indian/Alaska Native populations face large gaps; Hispanic and Asian populations have distinct patterns (higher liver, stomach, cervical cancer). Drivers: screening access, time to treatment, guideline-concordant care, trial under-representation (Black patients ~4-6% of pivotal trial enrolment), social determinants, environmental exposures, medical mistrust, and biology shaped by these (e.g. TNBC incidence). Medicaid expansion narrowed disparities in stage at diagnosis and survival; navigation, community health workers, mobile screening and diverse trial recruitment (FDA diversity action plans, 2024) are evidence-based responses. Globally, disparity is between countries as much as within (see global oncology).

## Fields

- Kind: Term
- Last checked: 2026-09-08
- Tags: gap-fill; equity

## Sources

- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_equity
- ACS Cancer Facts & Figures for African American/Black People: https://www.cancer.org/research/cancer-facts-statistics/cancer-facts-figures-for-african-americans.html
- NCI Center to Reduce Cancer Health Disparities: https://www.cancer.gov/about-nci/organization/crchd
- FDA diversity action plans guidance 2024: https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/diversity-action-plans-improve-enrollment-participants-underrepresented-populations-clinical-studies

## Connected records

- technologies: [Financial toxicity and financial navigation](https://onco.cc/technologies/financial-navigation/), [Global oncology and access in low- and middle-income countries](https://onco.cc/technologies/global-oncology-access/), [Oncology nursing and nurse-led care](https://onco.cc/technologies/oncology-nursing/)
- cancers: [Multiple myeloma](https://onco.cc/cancers/multiple-myeloma/), [Prostate cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/prostate/), [Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC)](https://onco.cc/cancers/tnbc/)
- institutions: [Auckland City Hospital / Te Pūriri o Te Ora Cancer and Blood Service](https://onco.cc/institutions/auckland-city-hospital/), [Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital / University of the Witwatersrand](https://onco.cc/institutions/wits-charlotte-maxeke/), [Groote Schuur Hospital / University of Cape Town](https://onco.cc/institutions/groote-schuur-uct/), [Korle Bu Teaching Hospital](https://onco.cc/institutions/korle-bu-teaching-hospital/), [Lagos University Teaching Hospital](https://onco.cc/institutions/luth-lagos/), [National Cancer Institute (NIH)](https://onco.cc/institutions/nci/)
- terms: [Accrual and enrolment](https://onco.cc/terms/accrual/), [Decentralised trial](https://onco.cc/terms/decentralised-trial/), [Financial toxicity](https://onco.cc/terms/financial-toxicity/), [Oncology workforce](https://onco.cc/terms/oncology-workforce/), [Real-world evidence](https://onco.cc/terms/real-world-evidence/)
- people: [Audre Lorde](https://onco.cc/people/audre-lorde/), [Chadwick Boseman](https://onco.cc/people/chadwick-boseman/), [Donald Pinkel](https://onco.cc/people/donald-pinkel/), [Jane Cooke Wright](https://onco.cc/people/jane-cooke-wright/)
- collections: [American Cancer Society (ACS)](https://onco.cc/collections/american-cancer-society/), [Susan G. Komen](https://onco.cc/collections/susan-g-komen/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/cancer-health-disparities.json