Gender and racial disparities in the incidence and mortality of pancreatic cancer in Mississippi State from 2003 to 2019

BACKGROUND: In the United States, the incidence and prevalence of pancreatic cancer are well-established relative to the factors of gender and race. These rates can be seen to be dictated by biological, behavioral, socio-environmental, socioeconomic, and structural factors. This paper focused on the context of Mississippi, with a particular emphasis on racial and gender-linked mortality and incidence from 2003 to 2019. METHODS: Data were obtained from the Mississippi Cancer Registry. Specific parameters that were focused upon included the data source in the form of all cancer incidents and cancer mortality, geography in terms of cancer coalition regions, cancer sites in the form of the digestive system as a category to which pancreatic cancer belongs, and the year, ranging from 2003 to 2019. RESULTS: From the findings, the rates were more dominant in blacks than their white counterparts, suggesting racial disparity. Additionally, regardless of race, females exhibited lower rates compared to males. In the state, there were also marked geographical variations in disease incidence and mortality rates, with the Delta cancer coalition region faring the worst in terms of incidence rates for both races and genders. CONCLUSIONS: It was concluded that in Mississippi, being a black male poses the highest risk. In the future, certain additional factors that will need to be investigated as per their probable moderating role to inform the coining of health care interventions at the state level. They include lifestyle and behavioral factors, comorbidities, stage of disease, and geographical variations or remoteness.