Study: No Easy Explanation Why African-Americans With Colon Cancer Fare Worse

African-American patients with colorectal cancer fare markedly worse than white patients for reasons that do not appear to have anything to do with their socioeconomic status, according to Vanderbilt University researchers.

The researchers reported in the journal Archives of Surgery on a 10-year review of patients conducted in Nashville, TN, as part of an effort to better understand evidence suggesting "a significant disparity in colorectal cancer outcomes between black and white patients."

They reported finding no significant difference between blacks and whites in the stage of the colorectal cancer when it was diagnosed, and no difference in the way the disease was treated in patients of the different races. They also found "no association between survival and socioeconomic status."

"The marked reductions in overall and disease-free survival for black patients with colorectal cancer do not seem to be related to variation in treatment but may be due to biologic factors or non–cancer-related health conditions," the researchers concluded.

Other sources: Archives of Surgery