Race, age and cancer incidence: a test of double jeopardy.

One form of the double jeopardy hypothesis states that health declines more dramatically with age for blacks than it does for whites. This paper tests the hypothesis for black and white differences by age in cancer incidence rates. Age-specific incidence rates for 14 major cancer sites were compared in black and white, male and female populations in Detroit. Rates were based on 57,275 invasive cancer cases, diagnosed between 1973 and 1978, and drawn from the Michigan Cancer Foundation Registry, a member of the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program. For men, differences between blacks and whites for most sites dissipate with age, reflecting a leveling trend. For women, there is no consistent trend for most sites. Double jeopardy is reflected in rates for cervical cancer. Public health programs should be targeted to elderly black women for cervical cancer screening and to middle-aged black men for multiphasic cancer prevention services.