Health disparities are described as an avoidable difference in the burden of disease, injury, and violence that socially disadvantaged communities face, as well as the potential to reach optimal health, as compared to the general population. Disparities in cancer incidence and outcomes for women with gynaecologic malignancies have been widely documented, especially among African-American women. Socioeconomic, cultural, educational, and genetic factors have all been linked to the origin of these discrepancies. While availability to high-quality therapy has been associated to survival from cervical and ovarian cancer, differences in incidence and death in malignancies of the uterine corpus have generally been attributed to fundamental physiological abnormalities. The Black race, underserved racial and ethnic minorities (e.g. indigenous peoples, low English fluency), trans/gender nonconforming people, and rural populations are all classified as special populations at risk for health disparities. Each of these at-risk groups faces distinct structural impediments in the healthcare system, which has an impact on gynaecologic cancer outcomes. The authors make practical advice for practitioners in order to eliminate cancer-related discrepancies in outcomes.
