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Hallberg's Picture of Health
Tom Crann
St. Paul

African Americans have disparate rates of colon cancer

Chadwick Boseman
Chadwick Boseman at the Oscars in March 2018, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Boseman, who played Black icons Jackie Robinson and James Brown before finding fame as the regal Black Panther in the Marvel cinematic universe, has died of cancer.
Jordan Strauss | Invision | AP file

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Chadwick Boseman, the iconic star of the Marvel Comics movie Black Panther, died at 43 due to colon cancer. His death was mourned around the globe and the Sunday after his passing, ABC aired Black Panther followed by eulogies from friends and colleagues.

The American Journal of Pathology released a study that found “African Americans have the highest incidence and mortality rates of colorectal cancer of any ethnic group in the United States.”

“Race is a proxy for something else. Race is a marker or a stand-in for the fact that the social determinants of health have a disproportionate impact on the African American community,” says Dr. Renée Crichlow from the department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the University of Minnesota.

One reason can be that patients who are African American not being screened for colon cancer at the same levels as the rest of the population, Crichlow says.

“[That] all means that we don't find things like the early stage polyps. Early stage polyps are not cancer,” Crichlow told All Things Considered host Tom Crann. “If they are found on screening tests, they can be removed and that patient will unlikely progress on to colon cancer.”

Dr. Renée Crichlow talked with All Things Considered host Tom Crann about colon cancer. Listen to the full conversation above.