Cancer of the Corpus Uteri in Black Women

Abstract

The differences between racial/ethnic groups in cancer incidence and survival are greater for cancer of the uterine corpus than for any other major cancer site. According to 1978–1981 data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program (Baquet et al. 1986), the incidence of corpus cancer ranged from 2.6 per 100,000 Native Americans to 27.1 per 100,000 Native Hawaiians with a White:Black ratio of 1.9 (Table 1). The five-year survival ranged from a high of 88% in Whites to 57% in Blacks, a difference of 31%. For breast cancer, in comparison, the White:Black incidence ratio was only 1.2 and the difference in five-year survival was only 12%. Since corpus cancer is the fourth most frequent cancer in U.S. women, with 35,000 new cases estimated for 1987, its diagnosis and treatment involves much expensive medical care, and its prevention is clearly of great significance. The existence of differences between populations often suggests that some aspects of a disease are indeed preventable and thus justifies a detailed analysis of ethnic differences in all factors that contribute to the incidence and mortality of corpus cancer.