A new study shows that African Americans have the lowest colon cancer survival rate. The researchers think the racial gap may be due to a few different factors including colon cancer screening and treatments given.
The study included 14,000 adults diagnosed with colon cancer or rectal cancer. Eleven percent where African Americans, all had health insurance. They were the most likely to die of their disease, were more likely to be diagnosed with advanced tumors and less likely than whites to undergo colorectal cancer surgery.
Tumor stage and treatment seem to account for the racial gap in survival but the researchers think there might be other factors they are not aware of at this time.
