Contrasts in Survival of Black and White Cancer Patients, 1960–73

The summary data contrasting survival of black and white cancer patients whose disease was diagnosed during 1960–66 and 1967–73, presented for 18 forms of cancer, were derived from case material assembled by the Cancer Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) Program, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute. The average black patient was younger than the average white patient during both periods. About 30% of the cancers in black patients were diagnosed as localized neoplasms, compared to 40% of the cancers in whites. With few exceptions, survival for black patients with each form of cancer has continued to be less favorable than for white patients. It was generally closer to that for white patients when the disease was localized, but whites generally still had higher survival rates. In both races, survival for females was better than for males. The greatest differential in survival between the two races was for cancer of the bladder and cancer of the uterine corpus. Multiple myeloma was one type of cancer for which survival for black patients was more favorable than for white patients during 1967–73. For both races, survival rates improved slightly between 1960–66 and 1967–73. Lung cancer was the leading cancer site for both black and white men for both periods; the proportion increased from 18 to 21% for whites and from 20 to 24% for blacks. Among both black and white patients, the greatest improvement in survival between 1960–66 and 1967–73 occurred for patients with Hodgkin's disease. Improvements were also notable for black patients with cancer of the prostate gland, uterine corpus, and stomach and for those with multiple myeloma. Improvements were less dramatic among white patients. The poorer survival results for black patients may have been associated with socioeconomic factors.