Why Are Black And Latino Kids More Likely To Die Of Certain Cancers?
There's a big survival gap between white and minority children when it comes to some childhood cancers. It turns out growing up in poverty explains a lot of the difference.
When it comes to cancer survival, the United States is sharply divided by race. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the cancer death rate for African-Americans is 25 percent higher than whites, and Hispanics and Latinos are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at a late, and more dangerous, stage of the disease.
Kids aren't exempt from those disparities either — black and Hispanic children are more likely to die of many childhood cancers than their white counterparts. So what explains the survival gap?
For epidemiologist Rebecca Kehm, the answer could liein the journal , Kehm and her coauthors pinpoint socioeconomic status as a factor in childhood cancer survival.
