Good news about cancer — with new data showing falling mortality rates and improved survival rates — is tempered somewhat by a ‘grim reality,’ says the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR).

“The burden of cancer is not shouldered equally by all segments of the US population,” the AACR adds. “The adverse differences in cancer burden that exist among certain population groups are one of the most pressing public health challenges that we face in the United States.” 

AACR president Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, gave some examples of these disparities at a September 16 Congressional briefing that focused on the inaugural AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2020. He noted that:

In addition to racial and ethnic minority groups, other populations that bear a disproportionate burden when it comes to cancer included individuals lacking adequate health insurance coverage, immigrants, those with disabilities, residents in rural areas, and members of the lesbian,