A new report calls attention to cancer in people with mental illness, suggesting that healthcare system and societal factors are just as critical as individual lifestyle factors— linked to smoking and obesity—that lead to health disparities among this group. The report appears early online in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians.

Reports indicate that nearly one in five adults (18.6%) suffered some form of any mental illness in the last year, and almost 10 million U.S. adults (4.1% of the population) had a serious mental illness (such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder) in the past year. Despite the high prevalence of mental illness among adults, widespread recognition of the significant health disparities experienced by this population has occurred only in the last decade. People with mental illness die decades earlier compared with the general population, with most of the disparity the result of preventable and treatable chronic conditions, including cancer.