What the study found
U.S. cancer mortality fell from 1991 to 2019, but the decline was not evenly shared across counties. The study found that improvement varied by county location, income, and urbanization.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that the findings underline the need to expand place-based initiatives designed to advance cancer health and produce more equitable improvements in cancer mortality outcomes.
What the researchers tested
The researchers examined 21,381,009 county-level neoplasm deaths from death certificates in CDC WONDER across 2,954 U.S. counties. They used GIS, Moran's I, ordinary least squares (OLS), geographically weighted regression (GWR), and trend comparisons to study mortality improvement and characteristics associated with it.
What worked and what didn't
Cancer mortality declined nationally by 32% from 1991 to 2019. Highest-income counties were the first to experience improvement in cancer mortality, had the highest rates of decline, and saw the greatest reduction in excess deaths. The abstract also states that one factor was less associated with outcomes, but the text provided is incomplete and does not identify that factor.
What to keep in mind
The summary is based only on the abstract, which gives limited detail about limitations and does not fully report every result. One sentence in the abstract appears incomplete, so some specifics about associations cannot be recovered from the provided text.
Key points
- U.S. cancer mortality declined by 32% from 1991 to 2019.
- Improvements varied across 2,954 counties rather than occurring evenly nationwide.
- Highest-income counties were first to see improvement and had the steepest declines.
- The authors link the findings to a need for place-based initiatives for more equitable cancer outcomes.
- The abstract text provided is incomplete, so one reported association cannot be fully identified.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- U.S. cancer mortality declines varied by county income and location
- Authors:
- Arthur G. Cosby, Viswadeep Lebakula, Karissa D. Bergene, Gina Rico Mendez, Mackenzie Bumgarner, Alina Peluso
- Institutions:
- Mississippi State University, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, William Carey University
- Publication date:
- 2026-03-30
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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