Cancer data put spotlight on health disparities

Experts examine the interplay between genetics and environment contributing to higher cancer rates among minority groups.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. May 10, 2004.

Washington -- Alex, 11 years old, and Justin, 10, have cancer, as does 7-year-old Jen.

Unlike Jen, whose leukemia was found early, the boys' cancers were diagnosed when they were on death's door, said filmmaker Julia Reichert, who followed the children's progress over five years as she and her husband filmed a documentary on childhood cancer, A Lion in the House.

Alex and Justin are black and Jen is white. The boys could well typify the black experience with cancer. Black men and women have a cancer death rate about 35% higher than the rate for whites. Failure to be properly diagnosed early enough for effective treatment is one of the reasons.

Alex, for example, had been diagnosed with asthma until the giant tumor on his windpipe was discovered.

Reichert and her husband, Steven Bognar, whose own daughter survived cancer, decided a film on childhood cancer could provide a window on the "whole cancer journey." They previewed a portion of their film at the 9th Biennial Symposium on Minorities, the Medically Underserved and Cancer, in Washington, D.C., and their six-hour film is scheduled to be aired next year on PBS.

Cancer statistics for adults in minority groups raise questions about the roles played by genetics, treatment and other factors. For example, while black women have a lower risk of developing breast cancer than white women, they are more likely to die from it, according to the American Cancer Society.