Lower income tied to worse overall, cancer-specific survival in squamous cell carcinoma of the anus
MONDAY, March 12, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Lower median household income (MHI) is associated with worse survival for patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the anus (SCCA), according to a study published online March 12 in Cancer.
Daniel Lin, M.D., from the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, and colleagues examined whether area-based MHI is associated with survival among patients diagnosed with SCCA from 2004 to 2013. Data were included for 9,550 cases of SCCA.
The researchers found that, compared to those in the highest income areas, patients living in areas with lower MHI had worse overall survival and cancer-specific survival (CSS), in multivariable analyses. For lowest to highest income, mortality hazard ratios were 1.32, 1.31, 1.19, and 1.16. The hazard ratios for CSS followed a similar pattern from lowest to highest income, from 1.34 to 1.22. There were correlations for older age, black race, male sex, unmarried marital status, earlier year of diagnosis, higher tumor grade, and later American Joint Committee on Cancer stage of disease with worse CSS. In multivariable analysis, income was not associated with the odds of initiating radiotherapy.
“MHI appears to independently predict CSS and overall survival in patients with SCCA,” the authors write. “Further study is needed to understand the mechanisms by which socioeconomic inequalities affect cancer care and outcomes.”
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