A recent American Cancer Society (ACS) report, Cancer Statistics for African American and Black People, 2025, shows that from 1991 to 2022, cancer death rates among Black men decreased by 49%, and cancer death rates for Black women fell by 33%.
While the decrease is promising news, the data shows that Black Americans still have the highest cancer-associated death rate among all races/ethnicities in the United States. For prostate, uterine, and stomach cancers, Black patients have a two-fold increase in cancer-related death compared with white patients. According to the ACS, in 2025, there will be approximately 248,470 new cancer cases and 73,240 cancer deaths among Black people in the U.S.
We spoke with Curtis Henry, PhD, deputy associate director of the University of Colorado Cancer Center’s Office of Engagement, Access, and Success, about the report’s findings and what is being done at the center to help reduce death rates further.