Dr. Osarogiagbon on Geographic Disparities in Lung Cancer Mortality Rates in the United States

Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, medical oncologist, Baptist Cancer Center, discusses geographic disparities in lung cancer mortality rates across the United States.

On average, rates of lung cancer are decreasing across the country, with a rapid decline in male cases beginning in the 1990s, and the same decreases in women approximately 1 decade later, according to Osarogiagbon. At the state level, however, significant differences in disease rates and outcomes remain. States in the southern and midwestern United States are at a higher risk of death from lung cancer, per capita, Osarogiagbon says.

The states with the highest rate of lunger cancer deaths include Kentucky, Mississippi, Arkansas, Tennessee, and West Virginia, according to Osarogiagbon. Moreover, these disparities increase even further at the county level, Osarogiagbon notes. Notably, in some counties across the country, rates of lung cancer are increasing, and others have plateaued with no decrease, Osarogiagbon concludes.