Higher mortality and worse overall survival in younger Black patients with DLBCL
NEW ORLEANS — Black adolescent and young adult patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma experienced worse overall outcomes in terms of mortality rate and survival compared with other races, according to a study.
"These outcome disparities in non-Hispanic Black patients persisted even after adjusting for age, gender, stage of disease, presence of B symptoms, extranodal involvement, year of diagnosis, time to treatment and receipt of treatment," Sheeba Ba Aqeel, MD, said in a poster presentation at ASH Annual Meeting and Exhibition.
The overall survival rate of black patients was 66.6% compared with 80.7% in other races, according to the study.
"Relative survival rate was low in the Black population even starting in year 1 of diagnosis compared with other races, suggesting that early interventions are crucial to overcome racial disparities,” Ba Aqeel, chief hematology/oncology fellow at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, said.
Researchers utilized the SEER database to identify 9,312 adolescent and young adults with DLBCL — 73% white, 15% Black , 10% Asian/Pacific Islanders, 0.6% American Indian/Alaskan natives and 1.1% unknown.
Black patients were more often men and belonged to low-income families. This patient population also presented with advanced stage disease at a higher rate and was more likely to die of DLBCL. In addition, Black patients received chemotherapy less often than their counterparts of other races.
Follow-up research that examines disease biology and other socioeconomic factors that may affect outcomes in different races was encouraged by the research team.
Reference:
- Ba Aqeel S, et al. Abstract 61. Presented at: ASH Annual Meeting and Exposition; Dec. 10-13, 2022; New Orleans.
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