Using incidence and survival data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registries, vital statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and population projections from the US Census B, the American Cancer Society, and the National Cancer Institute collaborate every 3 years to estimate the prevalence of cancer in the United States. Current treatment patterns based on information from the National Cancer Database were shown for the most prevalent cancer types by race, along with brief summaries of side effects connected with both the illness and its therapy. More than 18 million Americans (8.3 million men and 9.7 million women) had a history of cancer as of January 1, 2022. Prostate cancer (3,523,230 cases), skin melanoma (760,640 cases), colon and rectum cancer (726,450 cases), breast cancer (4,055,770 cases), uterine corpus cancer (891,560 cases), and thyroid cancer (823,800 cases) are all more common in men than in women. More than half (53%) of survivors received their diagnosis within the previous 10 years, and 2/3 (67%) were 65 years of age or older. One of the major racial disparities in treatment for rectal cancer is that 66% of White patients with stage I disease receive proctectomy or proctocolectomy, compared to 41% of Black patients. Additionally, compared to White patients, Black patients with non-small cell lung cancer have a much lower likelihood of undergoing surgery (49% for stages I-II and 16% for stage III, respectively, compared to 55% and 22% for White patients). These treatment disparities were caused by the fact that Black patients continue to have lower stage I disease diagnosis rates than White patients for the majority of malignancies, with some of the biggest gaps for female breast (53% vs. 68%) and endometrial (59% vs. 73%). More evidence-based strategies and equitable access to resources are needed to reduce disparities for communities of color and improve care for those who had already had cancer, even though there were more tools available to help patients, caregivers, and doctors navigate the various stages of cancer survivorship.
Source: acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.3322/caac.21731
