KEY TAKEAWAYS
- The study aimed to investigate geographic and socioeconomic disparities in patients with CC.
- Researchers found that CC disparities relate to social and racial factors, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions and guideline adherence.
Despite advances in cervical cancer (CC) prevention, detection, and treatment in the US, health disparities persist, disproportionately affecting underserved populations or regions.
Tara Castellano and the team aimed to analyze the geographical distribution of both CC and recurrent/metastatic CC (r/mCC) in the US and explore potential risk factors of higher disease burden to inform potential strategies to address disparities in CC and r/mCC.
They performed an inclusive analysis to estimate CC screening rates, CC burden (number of patients with CC diagnosis per 100,000 eligible enrollees), and r/mCC burden (proportion of patients with CC receiving systemic therapy not in conjunction with surgery or radiation) at the geographic level between 2017-2022 using administrative claims.
Data on income and race/ethnicity were obtained from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Brachytherapy centers were used as proxies for guideline-conforming care for locally advanced CC. Associations among demographic, socioeconomic, and healthcare resource variables with CC and r/mCC disease burden were assessed.
About 48,000 patients diagnosed with CC were identified between 2017-2022, with approximately 10,000 initiating systemic therapy treatment. Both CC and r/mCC burden varied considerably across the US. Higher screening rates were significantly associated with lower CC burden only in the South.
The lower income levels were significantly associated with lower screening rates, as well as higher CC and r/mCC burden. A higher proportion of the Hispanic population was also linked to increased CC burden. The presence of ≥1 brachytherapy center in a region was significantly associated with a 2.7% reduction in r/mCC burden.
The study concluded that disparities in CC and r/mCC are influenced by various social determinants of health, behavior, and race/ethnicity. The findings suggest that targeted interventions tailored to specific geographic areas and adherence to guideline-conforming care are crucial for reducing the disease burden.
This study was funded by Seagen Inc., which was acquired by Pfizer Inc., and Genmab A/S.
Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39024212/
Castellano T, ElHabr AK, Washington C, et al. (2024). “Health disparities in cervical cancer: Estimating geographic variations of disease burden and association with key socioeconomic and demographic factors in the US.” PLoS One. 2024 Jul 18;19(7):e0307282. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0307282. PMID: 39024212; PMCID: PMC11257296.
