UGA Study: Black Georgians more likely than whites to die after being diagnosed with cancer
A new study led by a research scientist at the University of Georgia found that African-Americans in Georgia are less likely than whites to survive after being diagnosed with cancer. The study was recently published in the journal Cancer.
The study is one of the first to use what’s called mortality to incidence ratio or MIR.
“The MIR is essentially an estimate of kind of survival. It can be thought of that way.”
Sara Wagner is an assistant research scientist in UGA’s College of Public Health:
“So the concept is that we do know that blacks get more cancer than whites, but the relevant question is: Are they dying more often from cancer just because they get more in the first place, or is there another disparity beyond this?”
Wagner says the answer to that question was yes when it came to the six types of cancer she and others researched. The findings were especially striking in prostate, cervical and oral cancer among men. She says the largest disparity occurred among black men with oral cancer. The MIR for that type was nearly two times greater than that of whites. It also showed the ratios were the highest in East Central and West Central Georgia and lower in Metro Atlanta. Wagner says at this point researchers are unsure of the exact reasons the disparities exist but have some ideas based on a preliminary analysis.
“The areas with the worst outcomes tended to be those with the worst health behaviors, so things like alcohol and tobacco use, clinical care, and also worse socio-economic characteristics, so thinking about things then like education and poverty.”
Wagner says additional research is needed to find out what’s causing the disparities.
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