Black:White disparities: Declines in esophageal cancer mortality but not total or mortality from other causes among women

Using publically available mortality data from the CDC Wonder internet site, we observed national age-race-specific (35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65-74, 75-84, 85+) black mortality rates for malignant neoplasm of the esophagus among women. From 1979 to 2005, there were net changes of 1.5 (per 100,000) to 0.4, 8.4 to 2.2, 15.0 to 5.7 (all p<0.0001) 11.1 to 9.6 (p=0.334), 12.2 to 13.5 (p=0.600) and 11.5 to 13.5 (p=0.654) respectively. Declines among 35 to 64 year olds occurred throughout the observation period, while increases in the older age groups were greatest from 1979 to 1987 (ages 85+) and 1979 to 1989 (ages 65-74 and 75-84). Corresponding (1979-2005) net changes in black:white mortality rate ratios were 13.0 to 2.0, 8.4 to 2.8, 3.9 to 2.0, 1.7 to 1.4, 1.4 to 1.2 and 0.8 to 0.9. On an age-adjusted basis (25-85+ years), US mortality declined from 6.5 per 100,000 in 1979 to 3.6 per 100,000 in 2005 among black women, while increasing slightly (from 2.4 to 2.5 per 100,000) among white women. Regionally, age-adjusted black rates declined from 8.9 to 4.2 in the Northeast, 7.3 to 3.8 in the Midwest, 5.3 to 3.5 in the South, and 7.4 to 2.6 in the Far West. Corresponding changes in black:white mortality rate ratios were from 3.3 to 1.4, 3.4 to 1.5, 2.4 to 1.6, and 2.8 to 1.1. Observed declines may be due, at least in part, to lower alcohol consumption among blacks relative to whites reported since 1977 in National Health Interview Survey data.