Lung cancer in african americans

Abstract

Excluding squamous and basal cell carcinomas of the skin, lung cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and remains the leading cause of death from cancer in the United States. It has been estimated that in 2001, 1.2 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in the United States [1]. Data reported by the U.S. Bureau of Census, and the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program has been used to report important trends in diagnosis and treatment of cancer in the general population [2]. While the incidence of bronchopulmonary carcinoma in men has leveled off over the last decade, the overall incidence in women continues to rise. Moreover, since the mid 1980s, primary lung cancer has surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer death in women and now accounts for an estimated 25% of death from cancer in women [3] (Fig 1). An in-depth evaluation of these statistics reveal disturbing variances in cancer incidence, stage at presentation, and mortality in certain subpopulations of our society. African-American patients have the highest overall incidence of cancer and are 33% more likely to die of cancer than Caucasians, and more than twice as likely to die from cancer as are Asian Pacific Islanders, American Indians, and Hispanics [1]. In 1999, cancer was the second leading cause of death among all racial and ethnic groups. The average annual age-adjusted incidence of lung cancer is 73.39 per 100,000 for African Americans and 54.31 per 100,000 for Caucasians [4, 5]. These statistics underscore the importance of smoking cessation programs, early diagnosis and treatment, and vigilant surveillance in all populations and especially in the AfricanAmerican community.