Cancer profiles from several high-risk Chicago communities.

A descriptive epidemiologic study of Chicago's cancer rates during the present decade reveals that the worst cancer mortality rates occur among Chicago's black population.Blacks represent a large percentage of Chicago's total population and a disproportionately high segment of the low socioeconomic group. The excess black cancer mortality rates are directly linked to the multiple problems of the socioeconomically disadvantaged, who are unable to purchase or gain access to state-of-the-art medical services. This same trend is being observed nationally; however, only a few studies have been documented.The Chicago Department of Health recognized the magnitude of this problem in 1980 and initiated this ongoing study of cancer deaths in the city in an attempt to improve these rates in this decade.