As cancer death rates plunge, clear disparities remain, new report says

CancerAs cancer death rates plunge, clear disparities remain, new report saysBlack and American Indian/Alaska Native communities have the highest cancer rates of any racial or ethnic group in the U.S.Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00Black people in the U.S. have long had higher cancer death rates than white people, though the gap has narrowed in recent years. Twenty47studio / Getty Images stockShareAdd NBC News to GoogleJune 24, 2026, 12:01 AM EDTBy Lily AlvinoCancer death rates in the U.S. have dropped dramatically in the past 35 years, falling by 35%, according to a report from the American Association for Cancer Research published Wednesday. The decline, which translates to nearly 5 million fewer cancer deaths since 1991, has been driven in large part by increased screening and advances in cancer treatments.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.But the progress has not been seen equally across the country. “African American communities and American Indian and Alaska Native populations have the highest overall cancer death rates of any U.S. racial or ethnic group, and this means higher incidence and mortality for multiple cancers,” said the chair of the report, Mariana Stern, a professor of clinical population and public health sciences and urology at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California.Black people in the U.S. have long had higher cancer death rates than white people, though the gap has narrowed in recent years. Still, Black people are about twice as likely to die from multiple myeloma and cancers of the stomach, prostate and gallbladder than white people. For breast cancer, mortality rates are 35% higher among Black women than among white women. Colorectal cancer — which is rising in people under 50 — also has higher mortality rates among Black and American Indian/Alaska Native populations, compared with white people. Increased screening has contribu...