AACR: Cancer Disparities Remain Ongoing Public Health Challenge Free

The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) today released its Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2024, which outlines the outsized effects that cancer exacts on racial and ethnic minorities and other medically underserved groups, the causes of disparities, efforts underway to reduce inequities, and the need for continued research “to ensure that advances against cancer benefit all patients.” Numerous statistics are offered to underscore the magnitude of inequities. For example, although the overall cancer incidence rates among Black and Indigenous people are lower than in whites, they have the highest overall cancer death rates. Further, the report notes that “residents of nonmetropolitan or rural counties were 38% more likely to be diagnosed with and die from lung cancer.” To read the AACR report, visit https://cancerprogressreport.aacr.org/disparities/.