While the CDC finds that non-Hispanic white and black women had similar incidences of uterine cancer, black women were more likely to be diagnosed with uterine sarcoma, the most aggressive form of uterine cancer, than women of other races, and also more likely to be diagnosed at a later stage than women of other races.
Early diagnosis is a key component of increasing the odds of surviving uterine cancer—the five-year relative survival rate for localized uterine cancer is upwards of 80 percent, compared with less than 30 percent for uterine cancer that has spread to other organs. With that in mind, it’s no surprise that black women were about twice as likely to die from this illness compared to women in other racial groups.
“The racial disparity in uterine cancer outcomes is one of the worst of all cancer types in this country,” Kemi Doll, M.D., of the University of Washington and a practicing gynecologic oncologist who studies gynecologic cancers and health care disparities.
See “Why Are Uterine Cancer Rates Rising So Drastically in Black Women?” by Erika Stallings on the SELF website (November 6, 2019)
