African Americans are 50 to 90 percent more likely to die from pancreatic cancer compared to their white counterparts, yet national screening guidelines fail to address this stark racial disparity. Internal medicine physician Earl Stewart Jr., who serves as medical director of health equity for Georgia’s largest nonprofit health system, is calling for urgent changes to protect Black lives.
Stewart has been tracking a devastating pattern of prominent Black Americans succumbing to pancreatic cancer, including cultural icons like John Lewis and Aretha Franklin. He lost his own uncle to the disease on Christmas Eve in 2013, adding personal urgency to his advocacy. Men face nearly twice the risk of diagnosis compared to women, with Black men particularly vulnerable.
Current screening guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force give pancreatic cancer screening a D rating, effectively recommending against it for average-risk populations. Stewart argues this approach ignores compelling data showing disproportionate impact on African Americans. Research indicates that high-risk individuals undergoing surveillance programs achieve a 50 percent five-year survival rate, compared to just 9 percent for those diagnosed through usual care.
Stewart emphasizes that screening disparities stem from multiple factors. He stated that causes include “discrimination based on race and ethnicity group, food insecurity and differential access to healthy food, socioeconomic deprivation, and inequities in physical activity access due to neighborhood segregation and aspects of the built environment.”
Stewart advocates for guideline-making bodies including the American College of Gastroenterology and American College of Physicians to adopt race-based screening approaches, noting that about 60,000 to 65,000 Americans are diagnosed annually with pancreatic cancer, and 40,000 to 50,000 die from it each year.
See: “Racial disparities in pancreatic cancer screening cost Black lives [PODCAST]” (January 27, 2026)
