Survival Between Black and White Lung Cancer Patients is Similar

A recent study looks at the racial difference between people of the same socioeconomic status regarding lung cancer patients, finding that there was relatively no difference among the participants involved.

According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 160,340 lung cancer deaths occurred in the United States in 2012. This accounted for approximately 28 percent of all cancer deaths. Survival for lung cancer patients via the early 1990s shows that racial differences in lung cancer survival have been persistent, with blacks experiencing poorer 5-year survival for lung cancer compared to whites.

Yet researchers found that while proportionally more blacks present a later version of the disease, there is relatively no difference in the stage-adjusted lung cancer mortality between blacks and whites and the similarities between their socioeconomic status.

Here is information regarding the study, via the press release: "Researchers conducted a prospective cohort study among 81,697 racially diverse and medically underserved adults enrolled in the Southern Community Cohort Study throughout an 11-state area of the Southeast from March 2002 to September 2009.  The geographic areas include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia. Participants were aged 40-79 years at enrollment and approximately two-thirds self-reported as black/African American."

The researchers concluded with the following, via the release, that "when demographic factors, smoking and lung cancer stage are controlled, lung cancer survival between black and white lung cancer patients is similar, even among primarily low-income and medically underserved populations."

More information regarding the study can be found via the Journal of Thoracic Oncology (JTO).