News Release

Death rate higher in minorities with acute leukemia

Peer-Reviewed Publication

American Association for Cancer Research

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Blacks and Hispanics have fewer cases of acute leukemia compared to whites but they die at a substantially higher rate, according to study results presented at the Fourth AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held here Sept. 18-21, 2011.

From 1998 to 2008, blacks had a 17 percent increased risk of dying from acute leukemia and Hispanics had a 12 percent increased risk compared to white patients.

When separated into the two forms of acute leukemia – acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) – the difference in mortality was even more striking. Blacks and Hispanics diagnosed with ALL had a 45 percent and 46 percent greater risk, respectively, of dying than whites; whereas increased risk of death from AML was 12 percent higher in blacks and 6 percent higher in Hispanics compared to whites.

"These data tell us that the disparity in overall survival in acute leukemia is driven by higher death rates in ALL," said the study's lead researcher Manali I. Patel, M.D., M.P.H., postdoctoral fellow in hematology/oncology at the Stanford Cancer Institute in Stanford, Calif.

"We don't know the reason for the disparity, but now that we know it exists we can investigate why it occurs," she said. "Like all disparities in cancer there could be any combination of influences; however, we believe that socioeconomic factors and access to care may be playing an important role."

Patel and colleagues used the National Cancer Institute's SEER database, which reports cancer incidence, prevalence and survival from multiple sites and represents 28 percent of the U.S. population. They examined statistics from 40,951 patients with acute leukemia during the 10-year time period. This included 2,299 black, 4,428 Hispanic and 22,035 white patients, of which 1,953 blacks, 3,322 Hispanics and 18,980 whites died within five years of diagnosis. The researchers discovered that minority patients who develop adult leukemia die from it more often than white patients.

"This paradox is seen in other solid tumors, such as breast cancer. It occurs less frequently in black women, but mortality rates, stage for stage, are higher," Patel said. "Now that we have taken the crucial first step to document this disparity in acute leukemia, we need to understand the factors behind it so we can address and correct it."

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The mission of the American Association for Cancer Research is to prevent and cure cancer. Founded in 1907, the AACR is the world's oldest and largest professional organization dedicated to advancing cancer research. The membership includes 33,000 basic, translational and clinical researchers; health care professionals; and cancer survivors and advocates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. The AACR marshals the full spectrum of expertise from the cancer community to accelerate progress in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of cancer through high-quality scientific and educational programs. It funds innovative, meritorious research grants, research fellowships and career development awards. The AACR Annual Meeting attracts more than 18,000 participants who share the latest discoveries and developments in the field. Special conferences throughout the year present novel data across a wide variety of topics in cancer research, treatment and patient care. The AACR publishes seven major peer-reviewed journals: Cancer Discovery; Cancer Research; Clinical Cancer Research; Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention; Molecular Cancer Therapeutics; Molecular Cancer Research; and Cancer Prevention Research. AACR journals received 20 percent of the total number of citations given to oncology journals in 2010.


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