Can We Close the Mortality Gap?
Having Cancer Is Dangerous Enough—But Being Black With Cancer Is Even Deadlier
We don’t know exactly why African-Americans suffer disproportionately from cancer, with higher incidence, morbidity, and mortality rates than other groups. But we do know that many factors—social, environmental, behavioral, and genetic—play a role. At an event sponsored by the California HealthCare Foundation at the Goethe-Institut Los Angeles, a panel of experts discussed clues in the existing research and presented ideas and strategies for African-American communities to prevent and treat cancer more effectively.
Mignonne Guy, a researcher at the Mayo Clinic Arizona, began the conversation by admitting that she didn’t have the …