Survival Period for Esophageal Cancer Is Tied to Race and Income

Contact: Sarah Avery Phone: [phone] Email: [e-mail] https://www.dukehealth.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016
DURHAM, N.C. – African-American patients with esophageal cancer survive fewer months after diagnosis than white patients, but only if they also have low incomes, according to a new study from Duke Health researchers.
The researchers analyzed data from the National Cancer Data Base to assess what effect the combination of race and low socio-economic status has on cancer survival. They focused on esophageal cancer because it historically has had higher death rates among blacks and has a high overall mortality. 
The findings were presented during the January 26 press program at the annual meeting of the Society of Thoracic Surgeons in Phoenix. 
“In lower socioeconomic groups, outcomes for esophageal cancer vary by race, but not in higher socio-economic groups,” said senior author Matthew G. Hartwig, M.D., assistant professor of surgery at Duke. “This has implications for all sorts of cancers, not just esophageal cancer, and should be further examined to eliminate health care disparities.”
Hartwig and colleagues, including lead author Loretta Erhunmwunsee, M.D., who is now at City of Hope in Duarte, Cal., studied outcomes of 6,147 esophageal cancer patients who underwent surgery. Of those, 293 patients, or 5 percent, were black.
Before adjusting for income, black patients had worse overall survival than white patients, living ...

Source: DukeHealth.org: Duke Health Features - January 26, 2016 Category: Pediatrics Tags: Duke Medicine Source Type: news