CCHEq Director: Cancer is leading cause of premature death in Brooklyn
Physicians at the Cornell Center for Health Equity (CCHEq) and New York-Presbyterian (NYP) Hospital have issued a stark disclosure that cancer is now the leading cause of premature death before age 65 in all of Brooklyn’s Community Districts.
Dr. Erica Phillips, director of Community Outreach and Engagement for CCHEq and associate professor of Clinical Medicine, told a community round table about health disparities in the prevention and control of cancer, that cancer will become the leading cause of death in the US by 2020. Prevalent cancers in Brooklyn include prostate, gastrointestinal, gynecological and lung.
“A combination of increased prevention and improved medical treatment of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has allowed cancer to gradually replace heart disease as the leading cause of death in high-income countries,” Phillips said.
