Black Americans with acute myeloid leukemia are dying sooner than their White counterparts, even when treated on the same carefully run clinical trials that are designed to level the playing field. In a sweeping review of three decades of ECOG-ACRIN trials, researchers found that Black race itself emerged as an independent prognostic factor for poorer overall and disease-free survival, despite similar remission rates and treatment tolerability.The findings challenge long-standing assumptions about what drives racial gaps in cancer outcomes. Researchers reported no differences between Black and White patients in the prevalence of key high-risk cytogenetic features or major mutations such as…
Author: Disparity Matters
For many patients of color, a visit to the dermatologist can mean entering a system that was never designed with their skin in mind. At the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress, experts warned that long‑standing gaps in dermatologic training continue to fuel dangerous delays in diagnosis for people with darker skin.Ophelia Entsir Dadzie noted that dermatology’s pattern‑recognition tools were built on observations in light‑skinned patients. She described a case in which a Black man with facial swelling and nodules was initially evaluated for infections such as leprosy or tuberculosis. Only a biopsy revealed a granulomatous reaction to fillers.…
A new AARP report warns that loneliness among older adults has surged into a worsening public health threat, with Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities bearing a disproportionate burden. Adults 45 and older across the United States are feeling more isolated, but AANHPI respondents are 53 percent more likely to report loneliness than their White counterparts, raising alarms about an under-recognized health disparity. Researchers surveyed 4,561 adults using a nationally representative online panel and found that 40 percent of U.S. adults now say they are lonely, up from 35 percent in 2010 and 2018 when similar questions were…
Black adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) shoulder a far heavier burden of chronic disease than their White peers, widening racial health gaps as cognition starts to slip. A new analysis of 8,737 adults from the National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center found that Black Americans with MCI are disproportionately affected by hypertension, diabetes, and multimorbidity—multiple chronic conditions that may accelerate cognitive decline.Researchers examined adults 55 and older with normal cognition, amnestic MCI, or nonamnestic MCI and evaluated common cardiovascular comorbidities by race. Across all diagnostic groups, Black participants had lower education levels, higher body mass index, and were more likely to…
Cancer remains deadlier for some children than others in America, according to a newly released report from the American Association for Cancer Research. While overall five-year survival rates for pediatric cancers have climbed to 87 percent, deep disparities persist along racial and ethnic lines.Hispanic children face the highest cancer incidence rates among all groups in the United States. Even more troubling, non-Hispanic Black children are nearly 30 percent more likely to die from certain pediatric cancers compared to their non-Hispanic White counterparts. These gaps exist despite decades of research that have dramatically improved outcomes for many young patients.Geography and economics…
At a major cancer center serving diverse Los Angeles County, women of color face a stark mismatch between where gynecologic cancers hit hardest and where clinical trials are actually available. Clinical trials are described as “an essential part of advancing quality cancer care,” yet the study reports that trial availability does not line up with the racial and ethnic makeup of the surrounding community or with the local burden of disease among cervical, uterine, and ovarian cancers. The researchers found that ovarian cancer accounted for most trials and 82% of enrolled patients, even though it made up only about a…
Black women in America face a maternal mortality crisis that education and income cannot overcome. They die from pregnancy-related causes at more than three times the rate of White women, with 49.4 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to 14.9 for White women in 2023. Even more alarming, Black women with college degrees have higher pregnancy-related death rates than White women who never finished high school.The disparities extend beyond mortality. Black infants die at more than twice the rate of White infants. Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women are four times more likely than White women to receive late or…
When seconds matter, where you live can decide survival. Across the U.S., millions of residents—disproportionately in minority neighborhoods—lack rapid access to emergency medical services. A recent analysis found that people in historically redlined areas have 1.67 times greater odds of living outside a five-minute ambulance coverage zone, with disparities reaching threefold in parts of the Great Lakes region. These gaps trace back to discriminatory housing policies that devalued property and stunted infrastructure, leaving fewer EMS stations and weaker healthcare systems in affected communities.The consequences are stark. National survival rates for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest hover around 10%, but studies show Black…
Stark racial disparities continue to define maternal and infant health outcomes in America, with Black women experiencing pregnancy-related deaths at more than three times the rate of White women. In 2023, Black mothers died at a rate of 49.4 per 100,000 live births compared to 14.9 for White women.The disparities extend across the spectrum of maternal care. Black women are nearly twice as likely as White women to receive late or no prenatal care. Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander women face even steeper odds, proving four times more likely than White women to begin care late or receive none at…
Stark racial disparities in maternal and infant health in the U.S. have persisted for decades despite continued advancements in medical care. Compared to other high-income countries, the U.S. remains the country with the highest rate of maternal deaths.This brief fro KFF provides an overview of racial disparities for selected measures of maternal and infant health, discusses the factors that drive these disparities, and provides an overview of policy changes that may impact them. It is based on KFF analysis of publicly available data from CDC WONDER online database, the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) National Vital Statistics Reports, and…