Cancer Survivors Need More Access to Equitable Care

“It’s important to recognize that not all people living with a history of cancer identify with the term “cancer survivor,” although the data we used included them.

“Another key point is that these estimates don’t distinguish between people receiving treatment, those living with cancer as a chronic disease, and those living cancer free.” 

– Kim Miller, MPH, ACS scientist and lead study author 

The researchers also learned that:

• More than half of those survivors were diagnosed within the past 10 years, and more than 18% were diagnosed more than 20 years ago.
• About 2 out 3 cancer survivors are age 65 or older, while less than 1 in 10 are younger than age 50.

Breast cancer is the most prevalent cancer among women.

More than 4 million women in the US have a history of a breast cancer diagnosis. The next two most prevalent cancers (those with the highest number of survivors) among women are endometrial (uterine corpus) and thyroid cancers.

Prostate cancer is the most prevalent cancer among men.

Over 3.5 million men in the US have a history of a prostate cancer diagnosis. The next two most prevalent cancers among men are melanoma of the skin and colorectal cancer.

“As the population of cancer survivors continues to grow and age, there’s an increased need for better delivery and coordination of post-treatment cancer care between cancer providers and primary care physicians to limit late and long-term effects of cancer and its treatment,” says Kim Miller, MPH, ACS scientist and lead author of the study.

“Plus, there are still knowledge gaps about the needs of cancer survivors and a lack of strong evidence-based guidelines and best practices for equitable delivery of rehabilitation, post-treatment cancer care, as well as quality primary treatment,” Miller adds.

Black people continue to have lower survival rates than White people for most types of cancer.

Black people are less likely to have cancer diagnosed when it’s at an early stage, when treatment is usually less complicated.

• For women diagnosed with stage I breast cancer, the 5-year relative survival rate approaches 100%. About 68% of White women in 2018 were diagnosed with stage I breast cancer, compared to 53% of Black women.
• Similarly, for endometrial cancer, about 73% of White women were diagnosed with stage I disease in 2018, compared to 59% of Black women.

Even when researchers account for differences in the cancer stage at diagnosis, 5-year relative survival is lower for most cancers in Black people compared with White people.

A large reason that Black people with cancer are diagnosed at a later stage and don't survive as long is because, as a whole, they have for less access to cancer care. Health insurance coverage is a key barrier to accessible care. Black people are more likely than White people to have health insurance with inadequate coverage (underinsured) or no health insurance at all.