IOWA CITY, Iowa - A new report from the University of Iowa shows Black people in the state have the highest risk from cancer.
It found Iowa’s Black population has the highest death rate from nearly every major cause of death, including cancer.
It further show Black people are 25 percent more likely to die of cancer.
As a result, the life expectancy of Black people in Iowa is four-and-a-half years shorter than for white people. (74.8 years compared to 79.3 years)
Report co-author Mary Charlton, professor of epidemiology in the University of Iowa College of Public Health, says Iowa’s Black population had the highest cancer incidence rates of all racial and ethnic groups for the ages of 50 to 79, whereas white Iowans had the highest incidence rate of those older than 80.
“When examining rates by age at diagnosis, we found that in the 60- to 69-year-old age group the Black population had an age-adjusted new case rate that was 33% higher than the white population,” said Charlton. “The cancer incidence rates became more similar in the older age groups. This shows how cancer impacts the Black population in Iowa at younger ages.”
The report says the numbers are the result of structural racism.
It notes the good news that cancer mortality rates are declining for all racial and ethnic groups, and the gap is narrowing between the state’s Black and white populations.
The report is based on data from the State Health Registry of Iowa and the Iowa Department of Public Health.
(Image from University of Iowa press release)