Black prostate cancer mortality in Illinois
42
per 100,000 Black men, age-adjusted
Age-adjusted prostate cancer mortality among Black men in Illinois: 42 per 100,000 (CDC WONDER, ICD-10 C61).
US national average: 18.50 per 100,000 Black men, age-adjusted
Historical trend
What this means for Black residents
That figure runs materially above the US national average of 18.5 per 100,000 (age-adjusted).
Black men have the highest prostate cancer incidence and mortality of any racial group in the United States — roughly 2.2 times the white mortality rate. In Illinois, the policy and clinical focus is on earlier PSA screening (USPSTF guidelines recommend shared decision-making starting at 45 for Black men vs. 50 for the general population), and on equal access to radiation oncology + urology consultation once a diagnosis is made. Retrospective analyses from the Veterans Affairs health system — where insurance access is equalized — show much smaller Black-white survival gaps than in the civilian health system, suggesting that access, not biology, drives most of the mortality difference.
The figures on this page are drawn from CDC WONDER + NCI SEER, which is the canonical public dataset for this indicator. See the References section below for supporting citations from MMWR, NEJM, and JAMA where the underlying drivers have been studied.
Policy actions
Policy levers at the state level for this indicator include Medicaid coverage scope, provider workforce investments, and data transparency mandates. The state's health department publishes the specific programs currently funded via its annual state health plan.
Where to get help in your state
- Urologists in Illinois: Black Health directory
- Prostate Cancer Foundation: pcf.org/patient-resources
- ZERO Prostate Cancer (free + low-cost PSA screening events): zerocancer.org
References & primary sources
- Primary dataset: CDC WONDER + NCI SEER
- NCI SEER Cancer Statistics Review — Prostate Cancer.
- Yamoah K et al. Racial and ethnic disparities in prostate cancer outcomes in the VA system. JAMA Netw Open. 2020.
Data refreshed: