The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) released its Cancer Disparities Progress Report 2026 on June 24. The report features the unprecedented progress being made against cancer, including the ongoing decline in cancer death rates, which have decreased by 35% since 1991, translating to more than 4.8 million fewer cancer deaths, and resulting in nearly 19 million cancer survivors.
Despite this progress, however, persistent disparities in accessing care have left certain segments of the population to shoulder a disproportionate burden of cancer, according to the report. For example, compared to White individuals, Black individuals experience higher incidence and mortality rates for several cancers, including multiple myeloma and prostate cancer, whereas American Indian or Alaska Native individuals experience higher incidence and mortality rates for cancers of the colorectum, kidney, and cervix. Hispanic and Asian populations experience higher rates of infection-related cancers, including liver and stomach cancers.
The disparity in overall cancer mortality rates between Black and White individuals has decreased from a 34% higher mortality rate among Black individuals in 1991 to a 9% higher mortality rate among Black individuals in 2024. Still, the overall cancer mortality rate remains higher among Black and American Indian or Alaska Native populations, and all racial and ethnic minority individuals have lower 5-year relative cancer survival compared to White individuals.
The report also details other emerging concerns, such as increasing rates of early-onset colorectal cancer across all racial and ethnic groups—with the largest increases occurring among American Indian or Alaska Native populations—and the rising incidence of lung cancer among Asian women who have never smoked. In addition, the report found that:
- Residents of rural counties are 17% more likely to be diagnosed with colorectal cancer and 27% more likely to die from the disease compared with residents of metropolitan or urban counties. Rural residents also experience slower declines in overall cancer mortality rates compared to those living in urban counties;
- Lesbian women face a nearly twofold higher incidence of thyroid cancer and non-Hodgkin lymphoma compared with heterosexual women; and
- Cervical cancer mortality rates are 49% higher among women living in persistent-poverty counties compared with those living in nonpersistent-poverty counties. Individuals living in persistent-poverty areas also experience worse outcomes across the cancer continuum, including higher incidence, more advanced stage at diagnosis, and higher mortality across multiple cancer types.
Addressing the Drivers of Cancer Disparities
As outlined in the AACR Cancer Disparities Progress Report, the drivers of cancer disparities in the United States are multifactorial and include a constellation of structural inequities, such as racism, segregation, and unequal access to resources; biological processes; and the social drivers of health, including income, education, housing, and access to care. All of which, according to the report, place an unequal burden of cancer on racial and ethnic minority populations and other medically underserved groups.
“The full impact of research progress can only be realized when it reaches all the people who need it,” said Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), Chief Executive Officer of AACR, during a press conference announcing the results in the report. “Cancer touches every community, yet, sadly, the burden is not shared equally. A person’s race, ethnicity, income, zip code, insurance status, access to screening [and], the ability to enroll in a clinical trial in the proximity to overall high-quality cancer care shape whether cancer is found early, treated effectively, and ultimately cured. This is why this report is so vitally important.”
Encouraging Trends in Overcoming Cancer Disparities
Findings in the report also highlighted some promising trends in cancer disparities, including:
- A decline in disparities in the burden of certain cancer types in recent decades among racial and ethnic minority populations;
- A drop in overall cancer mortality among Black men by more than 50% from 1991 through 2024, the largest decline of any racial and ethnic group, largely driven by reductions in smoking, advances in treatment, and earlier detection for some cancers;
- Disparities in cervical cancer mortality rates between Hispanic and White women declined from 70% higher among Hispanic women in 2000 to 10% higher in 2024; and
- Disparities in stomach cancer mortality between Asian or Pacific Islander and White populations also narrowed, falling from 150% higher among Asian or Pacific Islander populations in 2000 to 81% higher in 2024.
Restoring Federal Investments in Research: A Call to Action
Included in this year’s Cancer Disparities Progress Report were the results of a survey by AACR of cancer disparities researchers. According to the results of the survey, 93% of respondents reported being impacted by the elimination of recent federal funding for research, the elimination of workforce diversity programs, and disruptions to early-career funding. As a result of these changes, 56% of survey respondents have partially shifted away from disparities-focused research or are seriously considering changing their research focus. A further breakdown of the results found that:
- 80% reported federal policy changes affected their ability to apply for research funding;
- 59% reported being impacted by disruptions in ongoing research projects;
- 54% of respondents experienced a loss or reduction in grant funding; and
- 50% reported being affected by reduced support for study personnel or collaborators.
“Cancer disparities research is essential science,” said Dr. Foti. “It deepens our understanding of why cancer incidence and outcomes differ, how therapies work across populations, and how they can bring prevention, screening, and clinical trials and lifesaving care to those communities that have too often been left behind.”
She also called the results of the AACR survey “tragic,” and expressed concern that changes to recent federal policy changes on cancer disparities research will result in a loss of expertise and in lives. “We need to make sure that the future discoveries we are so desperate to have for all populations remain a high priority,” she said.
Serious Concerns Raised About New OMB Proposed Revision
Dr. Foti also addressed the potential ramifications from the new proposed rule by the White House Office Management and Budget (OMB), which would shift grantmaking away from objective, agency-by-agency guidelines into rigid government-wide regulations, and change how federal grants, cooperative agreements, and federal assistance are awarded and administered to nonprofits, states, cities, and researchers.
“AACR continues to raise serious concerns about the new OMB proposed revision to the federal rule governing grants and other forms of federal financial assistance,” said Dr. Foti. “We are addressing this right now and preparing our remarks to be submitted to the OMB to make sure that OMB knows that the provisions in this rule are damaging to cancer research and to lives. … “If research grants become more vulnerable to disruption, uncertainty, or political consideration, such as what is in the OMB ruling, the consequences will hurt … a community that already faces significant barriers to progress.”
In response to these threats to cancer disparities research, the AACR Cancer Progress Report is calling on policymakers and other stakeholders to:
- Sustain and strengthen federal investments in cancer disparities research, including robust funding for the National Institutes of Health, National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention;
- Support data collection initiatives to reduce cancer disparities, which include restoring and protecting federal cancer surveillance systems and ensuring they collect complete demographic data across race, ethnicity, geography, age, sex, and socioeconomic status;
- Ensure that every cancer therapy is evaluated in the populations in which it is meant to be utilized;
- Ensure equitable cancer prevention, screening, genetic testing, and follow-up care. Because cost remains one of the most persistent barriers to timely cancer detection, Congress should protect Medicaid coverage for cancer screening and follow-up care. In addition, the United States Food and Drug Administration should reinstate and finalize its proposed rule to prohibit menthol in cigarettes, which would meaningfully address tobacco-related cancer disparities;
- Implement policies to ensure equitable patient access to lifesaving therapies; and
- Build a cancer research and patient care workforce that reflects the nation it serves.
DISCLOSURE: Dr. Foti is Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for Cancer Research.
