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Black adults in S.C. at highest risk for cancer in nation

by Mary Helen Yarborough
Public Relations
A study conducted by researchers from MUSC and the University of South Carolina show that cancer rates among blacks living in South Carolina are  nearly twice as great as for whites in the state.
 
The study, released by the “Journal of the South Carolina Medical Association” (SCMA), focuses on racial imbalances in terms of cancer rates between South Carolina ancestors of Africa and Europe. The study also compares the state cancer rates with the rest of the country.
 
The journal article presents new data from the S.C. Central Cancer Registry, which collects data on cancer cases in South Carolina, and information on the prevention and control of these cancers.
 
The first such study by SCMA, it also represents the first study of any state on racial imbalances in cancer rates between Caucasian and black populations. The study examined cancers of the breast, cervix, colon, esophagus, lung, oral cavity and prostate. It also affirms South Carolina's first place in the nation for many cancers.
 
In summary, the study found that in South Carolina:
  • Black women are about 60 percent more likely than white women to die from breast cancer after diagnosis. This represented the largest disparity in the country.
  • Black men are nearly 80 percent more likely to get prostate cancer and nearly three times more likely to die from the disease than white men. This is about 50 percent greater than the national average.
  • Both black men and women are more likely to have and die from colorectal cancer than their white counterparts.
  • And black women are more likely than white women to be diagnosed and die from cervical cancer despite similar screening rates.
MUSC’s Anthony Alberg, Ph.D., associate director and chairman of Cancer Prevention and Control for the Hollings Cancer Center, also was an author of the study. His focus was and has been on the causes of lung cancer among black Americans.
 
“We understand the importance of the issue of cancer disparities and we are creating innovative programs to help educate African-Americans on the importance of early tests, and how lifestyle choices—including not smoking, eating a healthy diet and exercise—can help to prevent many cancers,” Alberg said.
 
Meanwhile, award-winning programs that are supported in part by MUSC, including Health-e-AME and Brothers Against Prostrate Cancer, focus on cancer prevention and education as a way to reduce the disparities among black Americans.
 
“African-Americans living in the Palmetto State have some of the nation’s highest rates of getting cancer and dying from cancer,” said James Hebert, Ph.D., a University of  South Carolina researcher with the Arnold School of Public Health, and a journal contributor.
 
Hebert said that while socioeconomic imbalances and lacking access to health care may help explain some of the disparities, “We are pretty much in the dark regarding many of the underlying cases. …We want to bring researchers, physicians and community health care leaders together to address the problems facing our citizens and work toward solutions.”
 
Hebert heads up the Statewide Cancer Prevention and Control Program and the S.C. Cancer Disparities Community Network, funded by the National Institutes of Health. He said the journal represents a major step in the state’s commitment to tackling a major issue of clinical and public health importance.
 
Lee Moultrie II of the National Black Leadership Initiative on Cancer III and the Us TOO Prostrate Cancer and Awareness Program in North Charleston expressed the significance of prostate cancer screening in the journal, and urges black men to take an active role in improving their health care.
 
“We must no longer make excuses about not being able to leave work, not knowing about the disease,” Moultrie wrote in the journal. “We who know the truth about the process should continue researching, practicing, educating and comforting.”
 
The journal features seven research papers on the specific cancers that disproportionately affect black Americans.

   

Friday, Oct. 20, 2006
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