About 215,000 fewer Americans would die each year if they had the same death rate as college graduates, according to the study. As some colleges aggressively seek to make education more affordable for everyone, now is the time to take advantage. (See also: How to Get a Free Education at Harvard)

The study, which will be published in the January issue of "American Journal of Preventive Medicine," looked at death rates among black and white men and women ages 25 to 64 years in 2001. The study found that 48 percent and 38 percent of cancer-related deaths in men and women, respectively, would have been prevented if everyone shared the same death rate as college graduates. That year, 40,840 blacks, 13,162 Latinos and 161,280 whites would not have died if they had the same death rates as college grads, the study suggests. Latinos were not studied separately but their mortality rates were included. Download the complete study.

Here are some of the top-line findings: 

• Black men with less than 12 years of formal education died from prostate cancer at more than double the rate of black men with 12-plus years of education. Overall, education can help black men reduce their mortality rates from cancer by up to 76 percent. Is this the way to address the crisis among young black men?

• White men in the most educated bracket studied (those with 12-plus years of education) decreased their risk of cancer mortality of all types by 48 percent. Black men have higher cancer-mortality rates than white men across education levels, but the racial/ethnic difference is virtually nonexistent for those with eight years of education or less, which the researchers attribute to socioeconomic factors and access to care, reports MedicineNet.com.

• For black women, the link between education and cancer mortality is weaker than for white men and women and black men, but well-educated black women can still reduce their risk of all types of cancer mortality by 43 percent. Black women with 12-plus years of education are significantly less likely to die of breast cancer (18.6 per 100,000), for example, than those with less (25.2 per 100,000).

• Good news for white women: Higher education levels lead to lower breast-cancer mortality rates, which dismisses historic medical thought that said better educated women were more likely to develop cancer later in life because of delayed childbirth and reproductive risk factors associated with age. Why? More emphasis on early detection, treatment and cancer awareness.

It's clear that "we are not doing enough to help the disadvantaged population in the U.S.," study lead author Dr. Ahmedin Jemal, strategic director for cancer surveillance with the American Cancer Society, told Newswise. "We're trying to communicate that to the general public and policymakers."

"The educational disparity is not confined to any racial groups or sex," Jemal added. "It's affecting people across the board. That's a powerful message."

 

Albano JD, Ward E, Jemal A, Anderson R, Cokkinides VE, Murray T, et al. Cancer Mortality in the United States by Education Level and Race. J Natl Cancer Inst 2007; 99:1384-1394

Download cancer facts and figures from the American Cancer Society for African Americans and Latinos, and read the May 2006 issue of DiversityInc magazine to learn more about healthcare disparities.

What Does This All Mean?

Is education the reason for reduced cancer mortality among people of all racial/ethnic groups? It's not the only reason--income certainly factors into the situation, although the complex interplay of race/ethnicity, education and class has yet to be fully understood.

Even if higher education doesn't account for all disparities that lead to cancer deaths, it's certainly part of the puzzle. Well-educated people are more likely to invest in prevention, get regular cancer screenings and engage in less at-risk behavior. They have access to better jobs, housing, healthcare and overall quality of life. While science has documented that certain racial/ethnic groups may be more prone to one type of disease (studies find a gene in African Americans related to prostate cancer), at-risk individuals who have more education are substantially less likely to die from it than those with less.

Behavior, which to some degree is affected by education level, affects outcomes. But education isn't the only answer.

"It's not clear to me that increasing educational attainment among everyone will necessarily reduce health inequality," Scott Lynch, a Princeton University associate professor of sociology who studies racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities and is familiar with the latest research, told Newswise. "We have seen educational attainment increase drastically over the last 50 years, but health inequalities attributable to socioeconomic status differences have increased."