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New research suggests access, genetic differences play role in high minority cancer death rate

Keith Dookeran - JNCI 2006-05-17The reason for higher African American cancer death rates may be doctors' failure to recommend appropriate chemotherapy and minorities' ability to access expensive treatment. Or it could be a matter of genetics that predispose some people to hard-to treat tumors.

African Americans have a higher chance of developing cancer and dying than that of any other racial or ethnic group in the United States. But new research, presented at the American Association for Cancer Research meeting in April, suggests that both access to health care and a propensity to develop hard-to-treat tumors play a role in the diagnosis and mortality disparities. By Ariel Whitworth - Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 98, No. 10 - May 17, 2006

Read more at JNCI Cancer Spectrum - PDF.