Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2022 Jul 4;32(7):931-938.
doi: 10.1136/ijgc-2022-003476.

Disparities in gynecologic cancer incidence, treatment, and survival: a narrative review of outcomes among black and white women in the United States

Mary Towner  1 , J Julie Kim  2 , Melissa A Simon  3 , Daniela Matei  1 , Dario Roque  4
Affiliations
Review

Disparities in gynecologic cancer incidence, treatment, and survival: a narrative review of outcomes among black and white women in the United States

Mary Towner et al. Int J Gynecol Cancer. .

Abstract

For patients diagnosed with ovarian, uterine, or cervical cancer, race impacts expected outcome, with black women suffering worse survival than white women for all three malignancies. Moreover, outcomes for black women have largely worsened since the 1970s. In this narrative review, we first provide an updated summary of the incidence and survival of ovarian, uterine, and cervical cancer, with attention paid to differences between white and black patients. We then offer a theoretical framework detailing how racial disparities in outcomes for each of the gynecologic malignancies can be explained as the sum result of smaller white-black differences in experience of preventive strategies, implementation of screening efforts, early detection of symptomatic disease, and appropriate treatment. Much research has been published regarding racial disparities in each of these domains, and with this review, we seek to curate the relevant literature and present an updated understanding of disparities between black and white women with gynecologic malignancies.

Keywords: Cervical Cancer; Ovarian Cancer; Uterine Cancer.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Trends in 5-year relative survival for uterine, cervical, and ovarian cancer in the United States. Data source: American Cancer Society
Figure 2
Figure 2
Trends in 5-year relative survival for uterine cancer in White and Black women in the United States, across all disease stages from 1975–2016 (a) and based on stage at time of diagnosis from 2011–2017 (b). Data source: American Cancer Society, SEER database
Figure 3
Figure 3
Trends in 5-year relative survival for ovarian cancer in White and Black women in the United States, across all disease stages from 1975–2016 (a) and based on stage at time of diagnosis from 2011–2017 (b). Source: American Cancer Society, SEER database
Figure 4
Figure 4
Trends in 5-year survival for cervical cancer in White and Black women in the United States, across all disease stages from 1975–2016 (a) and based on stage at time of diagnosis from 2011–2017 (b). Source: American Cancer Society, SEER database
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Nelson A. Unequal treatment: confronting racial and ethnic disparities in health care. J Natl Med Assoc 2002;94(8):666–8. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12152921). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Hannan EL, van Ryn M, Burke J, et al. Access to coronary artery bypass surgery by race/ethnicity and gender among patients who are appropriate for surgery. Med Care 1999;37(1):68–77. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10413394). - PubMed
    1. Epstein AM, Ayanian JZ, Keogh JH, et al. Racial disparities in access to renal transplantation--clinically appropriate or due to underuse or overuse? N Engl J Med 2000;343(21):1537–44, 2 p preceding 1537. DOI: 10.1056/NEJM200011233432106. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Garg PP, Diener-West M, Powe NR. Reducing racial disparities in transplant activation: whom should we target? Am J Kidney Dis 2001;37(5):921–31. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11325673). - PubMed
    1. Ayanian JZ, Weissman JS, Chasan-Taber S, Epstein AM. Quality of care by race and gender for congestive heart failure and pneumonia. Med Care 1999;37(12):1260–9. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10599607). - PubMed

Publication types