Childhood cancer mortality rates continue to remain the same for Black and Hispanic children, remaining unchanged despite technological advancement, according to a new report by the CDC.
Released late last week, the study highlighted a growing gap in death rates as progress made in saving the lives of Black and Hispanic children with cancer has stalled while the mortality rate for white children diagnosed with cancer has dipped.
Using data from the National Center for Health Statistics, the report detailed a 24% overall decline in cancer rates from 2001 to 2011 for everyone represented in the study with the mortality rates for Black children, Hispanic children and white children all declining to the same rate.
From 2011 to 2021, although there was a small decrease in the cancer mortality rate for Black and Hispanic children, there was only a noticeable improvement in the mortality rate of white children diagnosed with cancer.
.@AP reports “advances in childhood cancer are a success story in modern medicine.” However, “in the past decade, those strides have stalled for Black and Hispanic youth, opening a gap in death rates, according to a new report” from the CDC published Thursday.…
— ASHP (@ASHPOfficial) November 17, 2023
Overall, there was a 12% decline, widening the gap between the rates of Black and Hispanic patients that have passed away by 19% to 20%.
While the rate was 1.99 white children per 10,000, the rate for Black youth was 2.38 per 10,000 and 2.36 per 10,000 for Hispanic youth.
Through the report, the researchers also identified brain cancer as the most common cancer with the highest rates of fatality across every demographic. At 0.59 per every 10,000 children, the number of brain cancer diagnoses was 23% higher than that of leukemia and twice that of both bone and articular cartilage cancer.
Although the CDC’s latest report didn’t identify who was most affected by brain cancer, previous research has found that, although white children are most often diagnosed with this type of cancer, Black children have the lowest survival rate.
Only 70% of Black children and adolescents survive past the five-year mark following a diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.
“When we talk about finding a cure for pediatric brain tumors, we’re not talking about just one disease,” said the PBTF President, Courtney Davies, in a statement. “We’re talking about more than 100 subtypes with varying treatment approaches and outcomes. Although the medical community’s understanding of pediatric brain tumors has expanded in recent years thanks to research investments from PBTF and other leaders in the field, the reality is that far too many children still face a 0% survival rate and those who do survive face the threat of recurrence and the immense challenges of survivorship.”
