Black, White Cancer Patient Survival Studied NEW YORK (Reuters Health) After a cancer diagnosis, whites in the US tend to live longer than blacks. Now a large new analysis suggests that this difference is more likely to be due to disparities in treatment or other factors, rather than to some inherent difference in the biology of cancer between the ethnic groups. In a review of more than 50 studies including nearly 200,000 white and 32,000 black cancer patients, researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, compared the survival rates in patients who received nearly identical treatments. The researchers found that, in general, blacks had only a 7% higher risk of death than whites with a similar diagnosis of cancer. Of all 14 cancers studied, blacks showed no increased risk of dying from lung, prostate and colorectal cancers--three of the most common types--and appeared to be just as likely as whites to die from the less common forms of the disease. However, the data were not consistent. Blacks remained more likely than whites to die after a diagnosis of breast cancer (news - web sites), they were also 70% more likely to die of bladder cancer, and twice as likely to die after being diagnosed with uterine cancer. Overall, however, the investigators found "there were no large survival differences for most cancers, suggesting that whatever impact biological differences may have--if they exist--it is relatively small in magnitude," said study author Dr. Peter B. Bach. Thanks to 04/24/2002; Reuters Health Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.