The United States has made strides recently in improving the outlook for people with cancer. Deaths from the disease have dropped for two years in a row. But a new American Cancer Society report shows that progress has been slower among African Americans than people of other races in this country.

Death rates from cancer have been declining among both African American men and women, according to Cancer Facts & Figures for African Americans 2007-2008. Yet the cancer death rate is still 35% higher for African American men compared to white men and 18% higher in African American women compared to white women. In fact, African Americans have the highest death rate and shortest survival rate of any other racial or ethnic group for most cancers, the report says.

The reasons for these differences aren't completely understood, but economic and social gaps are believed to play a large role. Nearly a quarter of African Americans in the US live in poverty, and 20% are uninsured, the report says. People who are poor and uninsured are more likely to have their cancers found later, when they're harder to treat, and are more likely to receive substandard care.

"Access to insurance and healthcare as well as health education play an important role in one's health, but a lot of African Americans do not have access to these tools," said Durado Brooks, MD, director of prostate and colorectal cancers at ACS. "This report makes clear there is a need for more focus on improving socioeconomic factors and providing educational opportunities that can help further lessen cancer's unequal burden on African Americans."