Race not root of disparity in lung cancer between whites and blacks
2010-10-03
(Press-News.org) MIAMI — Race itself was not a prognostic factor of overall survival among black patients with lung cancer, according to data from a retrospective study presented at the Third AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities.
"In simple terms, if 100 patients who are Caucasian and 100 patients who are African-American have the same age, stage of cancer, type of lung cancer and are treated the same way, there should not be differences in their survival just because they are of different races," said Rajesh Sehgal, M.D., a medical oncologist at the Edwards Comprehensive Cancer Center and an assistant professor of medicine at the Marshall University Joan C. Edwards School of Medicine in Huntington, W.Va.
"African-American patients did have lesser median overall survival, but after compensating for all other factors that affect prognosis, such as age, stage and type of treatment, African-American race was not an independent prognostic factor for poor survival," added Sehgal.
Results of this study also indicated that those patients of other races — including Asian and Hispanic patients — had a better disease prognosis when compared with African-American and Caucasian patients, indicating that there may be biological differences in the tumors in these races.
Using data from the Cancer Information Resource File, the researchers examined 130,517 patients diagnosed with lung cancer between 2003 and 2008. Patients were grouped according to race: white (91.4 percent), African-American (6.5 percent) and other (2.1 percent), defined as any non-Caucasian and non-African-American patient.
Median overall survival was 10.3 months for Caucasian patients, 9.1 months for African-American patients and 11.8 months for patients of other races. Patients undergoing chemotherapy had about a 43 percent higher chance of survival and those undergoing surgery had about a 60 percent higher chance of survival.
Data indicated that fewer African-American patients underwent surgery to treat their disease and a greater percentage of these patients presented with metastatic lung cancer compared with Caucasian patients (44 percent vs. 41 percent). These factors may have contributed to less favorable median overall survival compared with Caucasian patients and patients of other races, according to the researchers.
Despite these differences, race alone did not affect overall survival.
However, race was an independent risk factor for patients of other races compared with Caucasian patients.
"If possible, we would like to look into the tumor biology of 'other' races to see when differences exist in their tumors as compared to Caucasian and African-American patients and whether these differences might account for their better prognosis," Sehgal said.
Other factors identified by researchers as having a negative effect on overall survival were age older than 70 years and male sex. Sixty-seven percent of all African-American patients were younger than 70 years of age when they presented with the disease compared with only 54 percent of Caucasian patients.
Patients undergoing radiation therapy and patients with bronchoalveolar lung cancer histology — a type of non–small cell lung cancer — also had improved prognosis.
Sehgal said that some study limitations did exist, including a lack of data on patients' smoking status, insurance status and comorbidities, all of which could affect overall survival.
###
Follow the AACR on Twitter: @AACR #AACR
Follow the AACR on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aacr.org
The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 32,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special Conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes six major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; and Cancer Prevention Research. The AACR also publishes CR, a magazine for cancer survivors and their families, patient advocates, physicians and scientists, providing a forum for sharing essential, evidence-based information and perspectives on progress in cancer research, survivorship and advocacy.
END
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2010-10-03
MIAMI — African-American women with breast cancer living in Washington, D.C., are more likely to experience delays in treatment regardless of insurance type, socioeconomic status and cancer characteristics such as stage and grade.
Heather A. Young, Ph.D., an associate professor of epidemiology at The George Washington University, said these findings underscore the difficulties in measuring the impact of race and socioeconomic status on health outcomes.
"There is likely something about race that we are still not capturing, whether it is different patterns of social ...
2010-10-03
WASHINGTON, Oct. 2, 2010 — Scientists have identified a way that the United States could immediately save the energy equivalent of about 350 million barrels of oil a year — without spending a penny or putting a ding in the quality of life: Just stop wasting food. Their study, reported in ACS' semi-monthly journal Environmental Science & Technology, found that it takes the equivalent of about 1.4 billion barrels of oil to produce, package, prepare, preserve and distribute a year's worth of food in the United States.
Michael Webber and Amanda Cuéllar note that food contains ...
2010-10-03
SAN FRANCISCO – A pediatric medical response to a major disaster should focus on three consecutive missions: protection of life and limb, continuing care, and finally, humanitarian aid, according to research presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco.
In January, within 24 hours of the worst earthquake in more than 200 years, the United States Naval Ship (USNS) Comfort was deployed to Haiti. With a staff of more than 800 physicians, nurses and ancillary staff, the ship was transformed into ...
2010-10-03
SAN FRANCISCO – An increasing number of obese adolescents, particularly females, are undergoing gastric bypass surgery. Yet a case study presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco, highlights the possible link between gastric bypass surgery in adolescent girls and an increased risk for neural tube defects, which can lead to varying degrees of disability such as paralysis and mental retardation due to damage to the nervous system, in their future children.
Neural tube defects in the brain and ...
2010-10-03
SAN FRANCISCO – When a devastating earthquake hit Haiti earlier this year, physicians and health care workers were immediately deployed to the capital, Port-au-Prince. A study on the creation and evolution of a pediatric field hospital – from a disaster service facility to a full-fledged children's hospital – during the weeks and months following the disaster, was presented on Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco.
"Disaster Response in a Pediatric Field Hospital: Lessons Learned in Haiti," ...
2010-10-03
SAN FRANCISCO – Nearly all (98 percent) of 11- to 13-year-old babysitters know who to contact in the event of an intruder or if a child is sick or injured (96 percent) or poisoned (85 percent), according to research presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco. However, 40 percent of younger babysitters reported that they had left children unattended while babysitting, and 20 percent opened the door to strangers.
In the study, "Babysitter Safety Training: Are Children Aged 11-13 Years Prepared ...
2010-10-03
SAN FRANCISCO – The stresses of poverty have long been associated with child abuse and neglect. In a study presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco, researchers directly linked an increased unemployment rate to child maltreatment one year later.
Researchers reviewed state-level unemployment statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and compared them with child maltreatment data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), during the years 1990 to 2008. Each 1 percent ...
2010-10-03
SAN FRANCISCO – One in eight parents reported that his or her child had not received pediatrician-recommended care – medication, laboratory testing and/or appointments with specialists – during the previous 12 months due to concerns over cost and payment, according to a study, presented Sunday, Oct. 3, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco.
For the study, "Parents Perspectives on their Children's Health Insurance: The Plight of the Underinsured," 1,978 southwest Ohio parents were queried regarding the impact of ...
2010-10-03
SAN FRANCISCO – Most toddlers can reach as high as a kitchen countertop, putting them at risk for severe burns from hot liquids, according to research presented Sunday, Oct. 3, 2010, at the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) National Conference and Exhibition in San Francisco.
In the study, "How Far Toddlers Can Reach onto a Standard Kitchen Countertop," investigators and parents urged children, ages 12 to 23 months, to reach for a toy phone atop a standard, 36-inch countertop at a pediatric clinic. The children were of various weights and heights; some wore shoes, ...
2010-10-03
MIAMI — Race and ethnicity appeared to affect diagnostic delay more than insurance status for women with breast abnormalities, as revealed by data presented at the Third American Association for Cancer Research Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, being held Sept. 30-Oct. 3, 2010.
Heather J. Hoffman, Ph.D., assistant professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services, and colleagues at the George Washington Cancer Institute, conducted a retrospective cohort study of 983 women examined ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Race not root of disparity in lung cancer between whites and blacks
