(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Your race may determine what kind of treatment
you'll receive if you develop lung cancer.
According to a new study, black patients with lung cancer are less likely to
receive recommended chemotherapy and surgery than white patients with the
disease.
Researchers from the University of Texas School of Public Health looked at data
from more than 83,000 patients who were diagnosed with lung cancer between 1991
and 2002. The patients were 65 years of age or older. Results revealed black
patients were 37 percent less likely than white patients to receive recommended
surgery and 42 percent less likely to receive recommended chemotherapy. Black
patients in the later stages of the disease were 57 percent less likely to
receive recommended chemotherapy than whites.
The study also showed older patients, women and those with lower incomes also
experienced disparities in treatment.
Authors of the study write, "Efforts should focus on the appropriate quality
treatment and educating blacks on the value of having these treatments to reduce
these disparities in receipt of treatment for non-small cell lung cancer."
They suggest this will help black lung cancer patients experience similar
survival rates as those that white patients experience.
Source: Cancer, May 15, 2009
