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Racial disparities in endometrial cancer mortality-to-incidence ratios among Blacks and Whites in South Carolina

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Abstract

Purpose

Endometrial cancer (EC) exhibits striking racial disparities with higher mortality in Blacks compared to Whites. The mortality-to-incidence ratio (MIR) provides a population-based measure of survival which accounts for incidence. The objective of this study was to map EC MIRs by race for eight health regions within South Carolina (SC) and chart EC incidence by race and grade across the four cancer stages.

Methods

Cancer incidence and mortality data were obtained from the SC Community Access Network (SCAN), the online data query system provided by the SC Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). The underlying data for SCAN were generated from the SC Central Cancer Registry and SC DHEC Vital Records and used to construct MIRs. ArcGIS 10.1 was used to map EC MIRs by race for eight health regions within SC. Four categories of MIR were derived using the national MIR for EC among Whites as the reference category.

Results

Blacks had higher levels of poorly differentiated tumors across all stages and higher incidence and mortality rates. In all eight health regions, Blacks were in the highest MIR category. By contrast, the MIRs for Whites were more evenly represented over the four categories.

Conclusions

The MIR proved useful for identifying disparities in EC incidence and mortality among Black and White women in SC. Cancer surveillance programs may use the MIR to monitor disparities across racial/ethnic groups and geographic regions going forward. MIRs have the potential to serve as an indicator of the long-term success of cancer surveillance programs.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the Department of Health and Environmental Services (DHEC) for making their data available for use and particularly, and we appreciate the SCCCR Director Susan Bolick for giving us additional information.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Oluwole A. Babatunde, Swann Arp Adams, Jan M. Eberth, Michael D. Wirth & James R. Hebert

  2. South Carolina Statewide Cancer Prevention and Control Program, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Oluwole A. Babatunde, Swann Arp Adams, Jan M. Eberth, Michael D. Wirth, Seul Ki Choi & James R. Hebert

  3. School of Nursing, University of South Carolina, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Swann Arp Adams

  4. Connecting Health Innovations LLC, 6049 Robinwood Road, Columbia, SC, 29206, USA

    Michael D. Wirth & James R. Hebert

  5. Department of Health Promotion, Education, and Behavior, University of South Carolina, Columbia, 915 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Seul Ki Choi

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  1. Oluwole A. Babatunde
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Correspondence to Oluwole A. Babatunde.

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Babatunde, O.A., Adams, S.A., Eberth, J.M. et al. Racial disparities in endometrial cancer mortality-to-incidence ratios among Blacks and Whites in South Carolina. Cancer Causes Control 27, 503–511 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-016-0724-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10552-016-0724-7

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