‘Cancer in Iowa’ Report Highlights Racial Disparities Iowa’s Black population bears a high burden of cancer. BY TOM SNEE
AFRICAN AMERICANS in Iowa are being diagnosed
with cancer and dying from it at higher rates than any other group in the state. According to the 2021 Cancer in Iowa report issued by the State Health Registry of Iowa, the age-adjusted cancer mortality rate for Black Iowans is more than 25% greater than it is for white Iowans. Report co-author Mary Charlton, associate professor of epidemiology in the College of Public Health, says that while the overall number of Black people in Iowa who get cancer is relatively low, this reflects the younger age distribution of Black people living in the state. When the numbers are adjusted for age, Black Iowans are more apt to get cancer when they’re younger, whereas white people are more likely to get it when they’re older. Charlton 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.
10 SPRING 2021 INSIGHT
