Unsurprisingly, there are wide global disparities in survival rates of cancer patients. This is partly because of the relative wealth of different countries. However, there are huge disparities within the United States as well:
In the United States, the lowest survival rates are in New York City, except for rectal cancer in women, where Wyoming scores worse. The best survival rate for cancer in the United States is in Hawaii, the researchers found.
Idaho also has a high survival rate for rectal cancer, and Seattle has the highest survival rate for prostate cancer.
But, there’s a big disparity in cancer survival rates between whites and blacks in the United States, and it favors whites. The differences range from 7 percent for prostate cancer to 14 percent for breast cancer. This disparity is most likely due to differences in the stage of cancer when it is diagnosed, the researchers said.
We have discussed the impact of race and region on health care quality before on this blog. Unfortunately, not everyone can count on getting the appropriate kind of service from their health care providers depending on their circumstances, as this new study re-affirms.