■ Healthcare
Continued From Page 12 sociodemographic factors such as race , ethnicity , age , income , sexual orientation , gender identity , or the place where a person lives . Most inequities in wealth , education and overall standard of living among people of color stem from historical and persistent structural racism and discriminatory practices .
The COVID-19 pandemic greatly reduced people ’ s ability to find available services for cancer prevention , early detection and treatment . These delays in care will probably worsen cancer disparities given the unequal burden the pandemic is having on communities of color .
Here are examples of statistics showing these disparities :
◾ In 2019 , 27 percent of men without a high school education smoked cigarettes , compared to 6 percent of men with a college degree . This is partly due to tobacco companies specifically marketing in neighborhoods where many people have low incomes .
◾ Black women have a 41 percent higher breast cancer death rate than White women even though their incidence of breast cancer is 4 percent lower .
◾ Cancer survival rates are lower for Black people than for White people for almost every cancer type .
◾ American Indians and Alaska Natives ( AIANs ) have the highest liver cancer incidence of any major racial / ethnic group in the United States . The risk of
developing liver cancer among AIANs is more than double that in White people .
Cancer is the second most common cause of death among children ages 1 to 14 years in the United States . Accidents are the most common cause .
◾ In 2022 , it is estimated that 10,470 children will be diagnosed with cancer , and 1,050 will die from the disease .
◾ Although the cancer incidence rate among children has been increasing some since the mid-1970s , cancer death rates in children have declined by 71 percent since 1970 , largely due to improvements in treatment and more children taking part in clinical trials .
◾ Leukemia remains the most common childhood cancer , accounting for 28 percent of all cancers in children . Death rates for leukemia went down by 84 percent from 1970 through 2019 .
◾ Brain and other nervous system tumors are the second-most common type , accounting for 26 percent of all childhood cancers . Cancer is the fourth most common cause of death among adolescents ages 15 to 19 .
◾ In 2022 , it is estimated that 5,480 adolescents will be diagnosed with cancer , and 550 will die from the disease .
◾ Similar to children , cancer incidence rates among adolescents have increased slightly for decades , while the cancer death rate declined by 61 percent from 1970 to 2019
◾ Brain and other nervous system tumors are the most common type , accounting for about 21 percent of cancers in adolescents , followed by lymphoma ( 19 percent ).
Progress among adolescents has lagged somewhat behind children for complex reasons that include lower enrollment in clinical trials , differences in tumor biology and treatment protocols , as well as treatment tolerance and compliance .
Other Highlights from the Report
◾ According to ACS research , at least 42 percent of the projected new cancers are potentially avoidable . This includes 19 percent of cancers that are caused by smoking and at least 18 percent that are caused by a combination of excess body weight , drinking alcohol , poor nutrition and physical inactivity .
◾ New combination immunotherapies for metastatic melanoma — a historically hard-to-treat cancer — have been a game changer for survival . In 2004 , only 15 out of 100 people diagnosed with distant-stage melanoma were alive after 5 years . For those diagnosed during 2011 through 2017 , since these new treatments have been available , twice as many — 30 out of 100 people — were alive after 5 years .
◾ The occurrence of liver cancer — one of the most fatal cancers — has finally stabilized . Just a few years ago , it was the most rapidly increasing cancer .
In 2022 , it is estimated that 10,470 children will be diagnosed with cancer , with 9,420 expected to beat the disease .
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