Because the burden of cancer is not the same for all communities, the use of high-quality cancer registry data is critical in identifying variations in cancer incidence among specific populations. In a Michigan data-linkage project, information from three statewide databases—the Cancer Registry, Medicaid enrollment files, and death certificate files—was examined to identify disparities in cancer deaths among minority and low-income populations. This study was designed to examine the differences in stage-of-disease at the time of diagnosis and the subsequent survival rates of patients considered medically underserved compared with the remaining population of cancer patients in Michigan.

The goal of this project is to identify disparities in cancer deaths among minority and low-income populations.

The study, published by the American Cancer Society, showed that low-income populations have a greater incidence of cancer. It also demonstrated that a greater proportion of low-income people with cancer are African American and that they are more likely to be diagnosed at younger ages (less than 65 years) for both colon and breast cancers but less likely to be diagnosed at older ages (older than 65 years) for cervical cancer. For the five disease sites, low-income people younger than 65 years were more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage disease and were more likely to die of the disease. The Medicaid population younger than 65 years was at greater risk of being diagnosed with late-stage disease than was the non-Medicaid population. For breast and lung cancers, older Medicaid patients also were at greater risk of dying of these diseases compared with non-Medicaid patients.