Racial and Socioeconomic Factors in Colon Cancer Mortality

Appropriate data from the California Tumor Registry and related sources have been examined in connection with racial and socioeconomic variables for colon cancer (ICD No. 153). Part of the increase in colon cancer mortality for the nonwhite races appears to be due to the increasing tendency for nonwhite colon cancer patients to present themselves at county hospitals (rather than private care) where surgery is less frequently performed, and also because of the advanced staging of colon cancer in the nonwhite races in California. There is a direct relationship between colon cancer mortality and socioeconomic class and between colon cancer stage at diagnosis and socioeconomic class and race (p < 0.05). Further epidemiologic studies are needed to evaluate the specific socioeconomic and racial intervening variables related to colon cancer mortality. Some difficulties in drawing conclusions about colon cancer etiology from mortality data have been explored.