The following is a summary of “Racial/ethnic disparities in thyroid cancer in California, 1999–2017,” published in the February 2023 issue of Surgery by Luff, et al.
The appropriate use of surgery and radioactive iodine in thyroid cancer care may be improving over time, according to recent studies on treatment disparities.
In the study, data from the California Cancer Registry and California Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development was used to evaluate the impact of race on the overall and disease-specific survival of thyroid cancer patients in California from 1999-2017. The study also examined reoperation data and hypothesized that disparities in treatment and outcomes would persist between Black and White patients.
The results showed that Black patients with thyroid cancer had worse overall survival than White patients (P < 0.01), but no significant difference was found in disease-specific survival between the two groups after adjusting for SES and health insurance status. Additionally, Black patients underwent reoperation less frequently (1.4%) (HR = 0.70 [CI, 0.50–0.99], P < 0.05) compared to White patients (2.0%).
The study concluded that addressing social determinants of health or healthcare access was necessary to overcome disparities in thyroid cancer between Black and White patients, where SES and insurance type were the main drivers of such disparities.
Reference: americanjournalofsurgery.com/article/S0002-9610(22)00590-6/fulltext
