(BlackDoctor.org) -- The American Cancer Society (ACS) recently announced that cancer deaths are down for the second year based on data showing 3,014 fewer deaths in 2004 than in 2003. "The hard work towards preventing cancer, catching it early, and making treatment more effective is paying dramatic, lifesaving divdends," stated John R. Seffrin, PhD, chief executive officer of ACS.

The drop in overall cancer deaths is certainly great news in the war against cancer, and it definitely proves that progress can be made. However, within this same report the ACS points out, "The Facts & Figures report shows that African-Americans are still much more likely than any other group to develop cancer and die from it."

No where is this more pronounced than the statistics for prostate cancer. While the death rate is indeed declining slowly for black men as it is for all other racial groups, the death rate is still 2.4 times (240%) higher than for white men (the racial group with the second highest death rate). The prostate cancer racial disparity remains the highest for any type of major cancer.

Prostate cancer among African American men is a national health crisis of epidemic proportion based on these statistics alone. The keys to eliminating this crisis parallels those that Dr. Seffrin attributes for the decline in overall cancer deaths; hard work - through education and awareness outreach, leading to early detection and the proper treatment choices. Making prostate cancer treatments and early detection more effective are important goals that we must strive to achieve for all men. All of these efforts must be significantly accelerated for African American men if the prostate cancer racial disparity is to be seriously addressed and eventually eliminated. Efforts aimed at eliminating this disparity will not only pay lifesaving dividends to African Americans but to men of all racial groups.

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