Racial disparities in surgical resection and survival among elderly patients with poor prognosis cancer.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Reports indicate that black patients have lower survival after the diagnosis of a poor prognosis cancer, compared with white patients. We explored the extent to which this disparity is attributable to the underuse of surgery.

Study design

Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results program and Medicare database, we identified 57,364 patients, ages 65 years and older, with a new diagnosis of nonmetastatic liver, lung, pancreatic, and esophageal cancer, from 2000 to 2005. We evaluated racial differences in resection rates after adjustment for patient, tumor, and hospital characteristics using hierarchical logistic regression. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to assess racial differences in survival after adjusting for patient, tumor, and hospit

SUBMITTER: Revels SL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4547837 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature