Life-Threatening Disparities: The Treatment of Black and White Cancer Patients

Cancer mortality and survival rates are much poorer for Black patients than for White patients. We argue that Black-White treatment disparities are a major reason for these disparities. We examine three specific kinds of Black-White treatment disparities: disparities in information exchange in oncology interactions, disparities in the treatment of breast cancer, and disparities in the treatment of clinically localized prostate cancer. In the final section, we discuss possible causes of these disparities, with a primary focus on communication within medical interactions and the role that race-related attitudes and beliefs may play in the quality of communication in these interactions.