Socioeconomic status, race play role in acral melanoma survival
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Acral lentiginous melanoma survival is less likely in patients from lower socioeconomic groups, as well as in Black or Hispanic white patients, according to a study.
“Acral melanoma is the most common type of melanoma in people of color and is disproportionately affects minority groups and people in lower socioeconomic status,” Bernice Y. Yan, MD, a dermatologist and investigator at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research at Northwell Health and the study’s lead author, told Healio. “We observed people from lower socioeconomic groups had a lower survival in acral melanoma and similarly, certain racial minorities.”
Researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study of 2,245 patients with a first diagnosis of acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) between 2000 and 2016 using the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End results database, of which 469 died from ALM during follow-up.
Overall survival was 77.8% (95% CI, 75.9%-79.9%). However, after adjustment, those in the two lowest socioeconomic status groups were 1.33 times (95% CI, 0.9-1.96) and 1.42 times (95% CI, 1.03-1.97), respectively, more likely to die from the disease, as compared with those in the highest socioeconomic group.
Black patients were 1.25 times (95% CI, 0.88-1.79) more likely not to survive the disease than white patients and white Hispanic patients were 1.48 times (95% CI, 1.1-1.99) more likely to not survive.
“Being able to really recognize that socioeconomic factors can be determinants of health is something we are increasingly becoming aware of and being able to recognize these differences and risk factors could potentially help improve outcomes for patients,” Yan said.