The relationship between cancer incidence,stage and poverty in the United States

We extend a prior analysis on the relation between poverty and cancer incidence in a sample of 2.90 million cancers diagnosed in 16 US states plus Los Angeles over the 2005–2009 period by additionally considering stage at diagnosis. Recognizing that higher relative disparities are often found among less‐common cancer sites, our analysis incorporated both relative and absolute measures of disparities. Fourteen of the 21 cancer sites analyzed were found to have significant variation by stage; in each instance, diagnosis at distant stage was more likely among residents of high‐poverty areas. If the incidence rates found in the lowest‐poverty areas for these 21 cancer sites were applied to the entire country, 18,000 fewer distant‐stage diagnoses per year would be expected, a reduction of 8%. Conversely, 49,000 additional local‐stage diagnoses per year would be expected, an increase of 4%. These figures, strongly influenced by the most common sites of prostate and female breast, speak to the trade‐offs inherent in cancer screening. Integrating the type of analysis presented here into routine cancer surveillance activities would permit a more complete understanding of the dynamic nature of the relationship between socioeconomic status and cancer incidence.