Beyond devastated at the suffering and loss of this beautiful human being. Reminded of the critical work of colleagues like Dr. Renee Williams around racial health inequities in colorectal cancer. Black Americans have the highest mortality & lowest survival rates. #RacismNotRace https://twitter.com/chadwickboseman/status/1299530165463199747

Attaching this damning piece by Dr. Renee Williams of @NYU Langone and colleagues.

Colorectal Cancer in African Americans: An Update https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4977418/

“Over the past 10 years, the incidence and mortality rates of CRC in the United States has steadily declined.”

“However, reductions have been strikingly much slower among African Americans who continue to have the highest rate of mortality and lowest survival when compared with all other racial groups.”

“Earlier screening has been recommended as an effective strategy to decrease observed disparities; currently the ACG and American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopists recommend CRC screening in African Americans to begin at age 45.”

“With an estimated 17,240 new cases and 7,030 deaths in 2016, CRC still remains the third leading cause of cancer death among African-American men and women.”

“The likelihood of the diagnosis of an advanced tumor is higher in African Americans, which has been attributed to lower screening rates in minorities, later stage of disease at presentation,and diminished access to health care.”

“A 2007 analysis comparing the age at diagnosis in African Americans and whites for the 12 most common cancers found that the relative risk of cancer diagnosis before the age of 45 was higher in African Americans (relative risk=1.26, 95% CI: 1.15–1.37, P<0.0001).”

“A survey given to Internists, Family Medicine physicians, and Gastroenterologists revealed that across specialties there was a lack of knowledge of screening guidelines for high-risk populations.”

“Interventions that seek to increase screening among African Americans have been found to be successful when they target individuals or communities, address known barriers to screening, use multiple methods of message delivery, and are delivered over multiple time points.”

“There needs to be more advocacy to influence current health policy as equalizing access to health care and patient education is challenging given the history of disparate screening within this group.”