Racial disparities between Blacks and Whites affect a number of diseases and health outcomes, and cancer is no exception. Research shows that Whites with kidney cancer consistently outlive Blacks with the same condition, according to a new study appearing in the American Cancer Society’s publication, CANCER.

Black Americans also have a higher incidence of kidney cancer to begin with, but despite comparable tumor size, surgical treatments, and other patient characteristics, they die sooner than Whites, pointing to a host of other factors at play that should be explored in additional studies. Previous research has shown that social support, health literacy, education, and socio-economic status all contribute to racial health disparities—so doctors, individuals, and policy makers have their work cut out for them.