Disparities in Cancer Care | Specialty

The OncLive Disparities in Cancer Care condition center page is a comprehensive resource for clinical news and expert insights on disparities in care with regards to race, gender, demographics, geographics, and socioeconomic status. This page features news articles, interviews in written and video format, and podcasts that focus on studies evaluating these various disparities and how they impact clinical trial enrollment and oncology treatment.

ECOG-ACRIN Health Equity Committee Continues to Address Health Disparities in Cancer Research and Care

January 19th 2022

Edith P. Mitchell, MD, MACP, FCPP, FRCS, shares the inspiration behind the ECOG-ACRIN Health Equity Committee, efforts made to address health disparities, how the pandemic has impacted screening and care in the cancer field, and what needs to be done to get back on track.

Dr. Ali on the Need to Understand Real-World Disparities in BRCA Testing in TNBC

January 13th 2022

Haythem Y. Ali, MD, member, Henry Ford Cancer Institute, Henry Ford Health System, discusses the need to understand real-world disparities with BRCA testing referrals and uptake in patients with triple-negative breast cancer.

Basu on Getting Ahead of the Shadow Curve of COVID-19 in Oncology

January 13th 2022

Dr Basu discusses the “shadow curve” that could result from disruptions in cancer care during the COVID-19 pandemic and innovative strategies that Cancer Treatment Centers of America are taking to avoid this.

Overcoming Barriers to Clinical Access in Oncology Care Delivery Requires Multilevel Interventions

January 13th 2022

Christopher S. Lathan, MD, MS, MPH, discusses the lack of dissemination and implementation of evidence-based health care delivery innovations focused on addressing disparities in care.

Dietz Draws Attention to Gender Disparities in Breast Cancer

January 6th 2022

Dr Dietz discusses her experience as a woman in surgical oncology, the importance of bridging gender disparities, and her advice to women entering the health care industry.

Roswell Park Receives Nearly $1 Million to Address Race-Related Disparities in Prostate Cancer

January 6th 2022

New grants from the U.S. Department of Defense and American Cancer Society will fund work by two Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center teams focused on understanding and eliminating prostate cancer health disparities.

Likelihood of Pathologic CR After Neoadjuvant Chemo is Not Significantly Affected by Race in Breast Cancer

December 10th 2021

Pathologic complete response and event-free survival was not found to be significantly affected by race among patients with high-risk breast cancer who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy; however, disparities were observed among patients who did not achieve a pCR.

Personalized Medicine Could Be the Key to Bridging Health Disparities in Cancer Care

November 4th 2021

Expanding the definition of personalized medicine to include social determinants of health disparities is needed to ensure patients with cancer receive optimal care, said Karen Winkfield, MD, PhD, who added that lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic have sparked a new wave of enthusiasm to advocate for change and bridge existing gaps in oncology.

Study Highlights Racial, Ethnic Disparities in Post-Breast Cancer Surgery Emergency Department Visits

October 19th 2021

Non-Hispanic Black women are approximately 40% more like to require a visit to the emergency department after breast cancer surgery, and Hispanic women are 11% more likely compared with non-Hispanic White women, according to results from a population-based study published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment.

Ontada Launches HOPE Studies, Empowering Oncologists to Leverage Real-World Data and Address Healthcare Disparities

October 19th 2021

Ontada, a McKesson business focused on real-world data and evidence, clinical education and provider technology, announced the launch of Health Outcomes Powered by Evidence Studies.

Now Is the Time to Improve Diversity in Cancer Clinical Trials

September 27th 2021

Participating in a clinical trial is the most effective way to gain access to new and potentially better ways to treat cancer, yet we’ve seen a decrease in the number of African American and Hispanic patients participating in oncology trials in 2003 to 2016, compared with 1996 to 2002.

Dr. Osarogiagbon on Geographic Disparities in Lung Cancer Mortality Rates in the United States

September 11th 2021

Raymond U. Osarogiagbon, MD, discusses geographic disparities in lung cancer mortality rates across the United States.

Racial, Social Disparities Linked With T-Cell Lymphoma Outcomes

September 11th 2021

Existing racial and socioeconomic disparities among patients with T-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma continue to lead to obstacles with access for newly available treatment options.

Dr. Chu on Ongoing Efforts to Address Disparities in Lung Cancer

August 26th 2021

Edward Chu, MD, MMS, discusses ongoing efforts to address disparities in lung cancer at Montefiore and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Cancer Screenings Recover From Height of COVID-19 Pandemic, But Disparities Remain

August 19th 2021

Chris Labaki, MD, and Quoc-Dien Trinh, MD, discuss their research on the decline in cancer screenings during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery of these tests, and potential existing disparities to be addressed.

Smarter Screening, Risk Assessments Are Key to Eliminating Racial Disparities in Breast Cancer Outcomes

August 9th 2021

“Smarter screening” and a better understanding of the breast cancers women of color are more likely to develop are all crucial to helping these patients survive this disease at the same rates as their White counterparts.

Dr. Malhotra on the Rationale to Evaluate Racial Disparities in Lung Cancer Survivors

August 5th 2021

Jyoti Malhotra, MD, MPH, discusses the rationale to evaluate racial disparities in lung cancer survivors.

Understanding Actionable Pathogenic Variants Among Caribbean Patients With Breast and Ovarian Cancers

July 29th 2021

Dr. George and Dr. Hurley discuss the data generated from their study on the correlation between deleterious variants in genes and the development of hereditary breast and ovarian cancers in populations throughout the Caribbean.

Disparities in Race and Socioeconomic Factors Linked With Outcomes in LS-SCLC

July 27th 2021

Racial minorities with limited-stage small cell lung cancer, including African American and Asian patients, were found to have more favorable survival outcomes compared with White patients, which suggests that race is associated with survival in this disease.

Examining Interventions to Increase Participation of Hispanic/Latinx Populations to Clinical Trials for Cancers

July 23rd 2021

Rodolfo Gutierrez, MD, discusses racial disparities in cancer care and interventions to encourage increased participation of the Hispanic and Latinx community on clinical trials.