The gap between blacks and whites in Missouri for newly diagnosed cancers is narrowing in part because of an overall decline in smoking and an increase in cancer screenings, according to a study to be published early next year in the journal Missouri Medicine, the AP/St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.
The study -- led by Mario Schootman, an associate professor of epidemiology and medicine at Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine and head of the Siteman Cancer Center -- examined data from the Missouri Cancer Registry and the state Department of Health and Senior Services from 1990 to 2005.
According to the study, the rate of new cancer diagnoses for blacks was 18% higher than it was for whites in 1996, but by 2003 the gap fell to 6%. "If the trend continues, we expect the difference in new diagnos[es] for blacks and whites will disappear by 2006," Schootman said, noting that 2006 data are not yet available.
The study also found that although the black cancer mortality rate fell from 48% higher than that of whites in 1996 to 28% higher by 2005, it is expected to remain higher than that of whites for about 15 to 20 more years. The study also found that when compared with whites: