PURPOSE: Treatment outcome for black patients with cancer has been significantly worse than for their white counterparts. We determined whether recent improved treatment had narrowed the gap in outcome between black and white pediatric patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a parallel comparison, we analyzed survival by disease category between black and white patients with childhood cancer registered in one of the 17 cancer registries of the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program or treated at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, which provides comprehensive treatment to all patients regardless of their ability to pay, from 1992 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2007. RESULTS: Analysis of the SEER data indicated that in both study periods, black patients had significantly poorer rates of survival than did white patients, with the exception of a few types of cancer. Despite significantly improved treatment outcomes for patients who were treated from 2001 to 2007, the racial difference in survival has actually widened for acute myeloid leukemia and neuroblastoma. By contrast, in the cohorts treated at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, there were no significant differences in survival between black and white patients in either study period, regardless of the cancer type. Importantly, the outcome of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and retinoblastoma has improved in parallel for both races during the most recent study period. CONCLUSION: With equal access to comprehensive treatment, black and white children with cancer can achieve the same high cure rates.
PURPOSE: Treatment outcome for black patients with cancer has been significantly worse than for their white counterparts. We determined whether recent improved treatment had narrowed the gap in outcome between black and white pediatric patients. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In a parallel comparison, we analyzed survival by disease category between black and white patients with childhood cancer registered in one of the 17 cancer registries of the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program or treated at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, which provides comprehensive treatment to all patients regardless of their ability to pay, from 1992 to 2000 and from 2001 to 2007. RESULTS: Analysis of the SEER data indicated that in both study periods, black patients had significantly poorer rates of survival than did white patients, with the exception of a few types of cancer. Despite significantly improved treatment outcomes for patients who were treated from 2001 to 2007, the racial difference in survival has actually widened for acute myeloid leukemia and neuroblastoma. By contrast, in the cohorts treated at St Jude Children's Research Hospital, there were no significant differences in survival between black and white patients in either study period, regardless of the cancer type. Importantly, the outcome of treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia, acute myeloid leukemia, and retinoblastoma has improved in parallel for both races during the most recent study period. CONCLUSION: With equal access to comprehensive treatment, black and white children with cancer can achieve the same high cure rates.
Authors: Jeffrey E Rubnitz; Hiroto Inaba; Gary Dahl; Raul C Ribeiro; W Paul Bowman; Jeffrey Taub; Stanley Pounds; Bassem I Razzouk; Norman J Lacayo; Xueyuan Cao; Soheil Meshinchi; Barbara Degar; Gladstone Airewele; Susana C Raimondi; Mihaela Onciu; Elaine Coustan-Smith; James R Downing; Wing Leung; Ching-Hon Pui; Dario Campana Journal: Lancet Oncol Date: 2010-05-05 Impact factor: 41.316
Authors: Ching-Hon Pui; Amar J Gajjar; Javier R Kane; Ibrahim A Qaddoumi; Alberto S Pappo Journal: Nat Rev Clin Oncol Date: 2011-06-28 Impact factor: 66.675
Authors: Todd M Cooper; Janet Franklin; Robert B Gerbing; Todd A Alonzo; Craig Hurwitz; Susana C Raimondi; Betsy Hirsch; Franklin O Smith; Prasad Mathew; Robert J Arceci; James Feusner; Robert Iannone; Robert S Lavey; Soheil Meshinchi; Alan Gamis Journal: Cancer Date: 2011-07-15 Impact factor: 6.860
Authors: Floyd H Gilles; C Jane Tavaré; Laurence E Becker; Peter C Burger; Allan J Yates; Ian F Pollack; Jonathan L Finlay Journal: Pediatr Dev Pathol Date: 2007-09-25
Authors: Richard Aplenc; Todd A Alonzo; Robert B Gerbing; Franklin O Smith; Soheil Meshinchi; Julie A Ross; John Perentesis; William G Woods; Beverly J Lange; Stella M Davies Journal: Blood Date: 2006-03-14 Impact factor: 22.113
Authors: Mikkael A Sekeres; Bercedis Peterson; Richard K Dodge; Robert J Mayer; Joseph O Moore; Edward J Lee; Jonathan Kolitz; Maria R Baer; Charles A Schiffer; Andrew J Carroll; James W Vardiman; Frederick R Davey; Clara D Bloomfield; Richard A Larson; Richard M Stone Journal: Blood Date: 2004-02-19 Impact factor: 22.113
Authors: Beverly J Lange; Franklin O Smith; James Feusner; Dorothy R Barnard; Patricia Dinndorf; Stephen Feig; Nyla A Heerema; Carola Arndt; Robert J Arceci; Nita Seibel; Margie Weiman; Kathryn Dusenbery; Kevin Shannon; Sandra Luna-Fineman; Robert B Gerbing; Todd A Alonzo Journal: Blood Date: 2007-11-13 Impact factor: 22.113
Authors: George R Prout; Margaret N Wesley; Peter G McCarron; Vivien W Chen; Raymond S Greenberg; Robert M Mayberry; Brenda K Edwards Journal: Cancer Date: 2004-02-01 Impact factor: 6.860
Authors: Marko Kavcic; Brian T Fisher; Yimei Li; Alix E Seif; Kari Torp; Dana M Walker; Yuan-Shung Huang; Grace E Lee; Sarah K Tasian; Marijana Vujkovic; Rochelle Bagatell; Richard Aplenc Journal: Cancer Date: 2013-02-21 Impact factor: 6.860
Authors: David R Shook; Brandon M Triplett; Ashok Srinivasan; Christine Hartford; Mari H Dallas; Asha Pillai; Joseph Laver; Wing Leung Journal: Biol Blood Marrow Transplant Date: 2012-10-09 Impact factor: 5.742