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Abstract
To determine whether reported socioeconomic disparities in survival might be related to treatment, we examined patient and tumor characteristics associated with receipt of rituximab and survival in the National Cancer Institute's Patterns of Care Studies (2003 and 2008) for patients with diffuse large B-cell (DLBCL) and follicular (FL) lymphoma. Patients with DLBCL (n = 1192) were less likely to receive rituximab if they were older, black or Asian, lacked private medical insurance, had impaired performance status, had no lactate dehydrogenase measurements or were diagnosed with stage I disease. Patients with FL (n = 476) were less likely to receive rituximab if they were unmarried or non-Hispanic white. Receipt of rituximab did not differ by neighborhood median income. Treatment with rituximab was associated with better survival for patients with DLBCL, but not patients with FL. Lower rituximab use in patients with DLBCL without private insurance suggests that previously identified socioeconomic disparities in survival may, in part, be explained by receipt of rituximab.
Acknowledgements
The collection of Patterns of Care data used in this study was supported by the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program under contracts N01-PC-35133, N01-PC-35135, N01-PC-35141, N01-PC-35136, N01-PC-35137, N01-PC-35138, N01-PC-35139, N01-PC-35142, N01-PC-35143, N01-PC-35145, N01-PC-54402, N01-PC-54404, N01-PC-54405. The collection of cancer incidence data used in this study was supported by the California Department of Public Health as part of the statewide cancer reporting program mandated by California Health and Safety Code Section 103885; the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Program under contract HHSN261201000036C awarded to the Cancer Prevention Institute of California, contract HHSN261201000035C awarded to the University of Southern California, and contract HHSN261201000034C awarded to the Public Health Institute; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Program of Cancer Registries, under agreement #1U58 DP000807-01awarded to the Public Health Institute. The ideas and opinions expressed herein are those of the authors and endorsement by the State of California, Department of Health Services, the National Cancer Institute, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or their contractors and subcontractors is not intended nor should be inferred.
Potential conflict of interest: Disclosure forms provided by the authors are available with the full text of this article at www.informahealthcare.com/lal.