Racial Disparities Exist in Post-Surgical Quality of Life in Lung Cancer

Racial disparities exist in post-surgical health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a recent study published online ahead of print in the Journal of Thoracic Oncology has shown.

For the study, researchers analyzed data from 650 patients who underwent surgery for NSCLC from the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium. Of those, 80.5% were white, 8.8% were black, and 10.7% were other races.

Patients’ HRQoL was assessed twice after surgery, with the first being an average of 4.1 months post-surgery and the second being an average of 12.7 months after surgery.

At second assessment, black patients reported lower mental component summary scores compared with white patients (P=0.002), but there was no difference in physical component summary scores.

Researchers found that patients with less than high school education reported reduced mental component summary scores, while older age and receipt of adjuvant chemotherapy were linked with higher mental component summary scores.

Results showed that males, those having less than college education, and those having comorbidities had lower physical component summary scores. Older age was linked with improved physical health.

The findings suggest that interventions after lung cancer surgery are warranted to improve mental health in black and younger patients with NSCLC.

Reference

1. Poghosyan H, Stock S, Sheldon LK, et al. Racial disparities in health-related quality of life after lung cancer surgery: findings from the Cancer Care Outcomes Research and Surveillance Consortium. J Thorac Oncol. 2015. [epub ahead of print]. doi: 10.1097/JTO.0000000000000629.