Education level influences cancer mortality more than race: ACS report

Overall cancer mortality is 2 to 2.6 times higher among individuals with a high school degree or lower, according to the American Cancer Society’s “Report on the Status of Cancer Disparities in the United States, 2025” published Dec. 16 in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Researchers used data from the North American Association of Central Cancer Registries, National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registry, and from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics, to analyze cancer disparities by sex, race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and geographic location.

Here are five things to know from the report:

1. Compared to white individuals, overall cancer mortality was higher among Black and American Indian and Alaska Native individuals, at 14% and 13% higher, respectively, for men, and 10% and 22% higher, respectively, for women.
   
   While the cancer mortality rate was 10% higher for Black women, the overall incidence rate was actually 9% lower than that of white women.
   
   
2. For individuals with a high school degree or lower, overall cancer mortality was 2 times higher for women and 2.6 higher for men. The mortality rate increased to 4 to 5 times higher for lung cancer specifically.
   
   
3. Overall cancer mortality rates were 7% to 28% higher for Black men and 2% to 43% higher for Black women compared to white individuals with the same education level.
   
   The mortality rate disparity between individuals with 16 years or more of education compared to those with 12 years or less was higher by 71% for Black women, 140% for Black men and white women, and 190% for white men. 
   

4. Mortality was higher across all cancers in non-metropolitan counties compared to large metropolitan counties, by 23% among men and 18% among women. The largest disparity was seen in lung and cervical cancer.
   
   Congressional districts in the South and East North‐Central division of the Midwest had the highest cancer mortality rates both overall and for lung, colorectal and breast cancer.
   

5. Disparities were aligned with social determinants of health, such as living below the federal poverty level, being uninsured and level of education. 

Read the full report here.