Treatment and Survival Disparities in the National Cancer Institute’s Patterns of Care Study (1987–2017)

Abstract

Background: Cancer health services research is a primary tool for analyzing the association between various factors, cancer health care delivery, and the resultant outcomes. To address disparities strategies must be developed to target factors that are related to differences in care; however, to date, most disparities studies have been descriptive. The primary objective was to describe cancer treatment and survival disparities in community oncology practice patterns found in the National Cancer Institute’s population-based Patterns of Care (POC) Study (1987–2017). Secondarily, we compared POC findings to peer-reviewed literature. In POC data, older age was consistently associated with decreased odds of treatment and increased mortality. Interestingly, in contrast to current literature, few POC studies found race/ethnicity significantly predicted disparities. Cancer health disparities are complex; they are multifactorial, differ by cancer site and may wax and wane. The complexity supports the need for deeper understanding and targeted interventions to ensure equitable cancer care and outcomes.

Keywords:

• Cancer
• Health disparities
• Treatment
• Survival

Acknowledgments

This study was made possible through the efforts of the Principal Investigators and the personnel at the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results registries.

Declaration of Interest

The authors have disclosed that they have no financial interests, arrangements, affiliations, or commercial interests with the manufacturers of any products discussed in this article or their competitors. This article was produced by employees of the US government as part of their official duties and, as such, is in the public domain in the USA. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Cancer Institute or the National Institutes of Health.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health contracts [HHSN261201000024C, HHSN261201000025C, HHSN261201000032C, HHSN261201000027C, HHSN261201000026C, HHSN261201000140C, HHSN261201000037C, HHSN261201000033C, HHSN261201000034C, HHSN261201000035C, HHSN261201000029C, HHSN261201000031C, HHSN261201000028C, and HHSN261201000030C).