As a nation, we have come a long way in our approach to cancer care. New innovations and treatments have transformed what were once death sentences into treatable chronic illnesses. At the same time, we can never lose sight of the fact that roughly 600,000 Americans still die each year from this disease. We have a steep hill to climb.

We’re now learning that this hill is even more daunting and treacherous for people who live in rural America. A recent report from the National Grange sheds new light on these urban-rural disparities in cancer outcomes.

The report not only found that rural communities have higher rates of cancer incidence, late-stage diagnoses, and mortality, but also that disparities in cancer mortality between urban and rural regions has been widening over the last decade – even as cancer death rates declined overall. According to the report, cancer deaths in rural areas are 14 percent higher than in urban areas – a trend that also held true in three of the four states that were examined more closely by researchers. Like my home state of North Carolina, the four states examined in detail – Georgia, Texas, South Carolina, and Tennessee – all have sizable urban and rural populations allowing for a straightforward comparison.

The report also found 5-year cancer survival rates to be 8 percent lower in rural areas, with the disparity increasing for later stage cancer diagnoses. For example, cancers diagnosed at an early stage before spreading to other parts of the body had a similar 5-year survival rate between urban and rural areas. In contrast, for cancers diagnosed at a later stage, patients living in rural areas had a 5-year survival rate of only 26 percent compared to 30 percent in urban areas.

In addition to higher overall incidence rates, rural communities are also more likely to have cancer diagnosed at a later stage compared to urban communities. Specifically, the report found that for colon and lung cancers, the rate of late stage diagnosis was 21-25 percent and 12-18 percent higher in rural areas compared to urban communities, respectively. These findings not only highlight the critical role of access to cancer screening, but also the need for early detection.

Beneath this data is a larger story – one about how people in rural areas are less likely to get preventive health screenings than those who live in cities and suburbs. This can be driven by many factors – a lower percentage of workers having jobs that offer health insurance, higher poverty rates, or the simple barrier of a lengthy drive to reach a health center that offers cancer screenings such as mammograms or colonoscopies.

The good news is that new technologies may be able to help close this gap. New multi-cancer early detection tests, which can simultaneously screen for dozens of cancers with only a single blood draw, can make a profound difference in how doctors detect and treat cancer.

For rural communities, especially those who don’t have easy access to traditional screening services such as advanced imaging, these breakthrough blood tests can provide the opportunity for early cancer detection.

The next challenge rural communities will face – along with the rest of the country – is being able to access these tests once they’re FDA approved. The Medicare program does not currently have a straightforward pathway for covering this new type of cancer screening. North Carolina’s own Rep. Richard Hudson is leading the effort to fix this problem. His legislation garnered significant bipartisan support in Congress last year – including that of seven other members of North Carolina’s Congressional delegation. Unfortunately, it did not come to pass. If policymakers are serious about closing the urban-rural disparity in cancer outcomes, they need to pass this legislation soon.

We know early detection works. The best way to eliminate the disparities in cancer mortality is to make screening and early detection widely available to those at risk – regardless of their zip code.

Jimmy Gentry is president of the North Carolina Grange.