This study sheds light on the complex interplay between race, ethnicity, and cancer treatment outcomes, underscoring the importance of personalized medicine and the need for more inclusive research.
Key Findings:
- A study published in JAMA Network Open revealed significant differences in treatment response and survival outcomes among different racial and ethnic groups with resected stage II or III gastric cancer.
- Asian and Black patients showed a more favorable response to neoadjuvant therapy.
- Asian and Hispanic patients were associated with improved overall survival (OS) compared to Black and white patients.
- Black patients receiving neoadjuvant therapy had improved OS compared to white patients.
Study Details:
- The study was a large nationwide retrospective cohort study focusing on the association of neoadjuvant therapy with different racial and ethnic groups.
- It included 6,938 patients from the National Cancer Database, excluding those with gastric cardia tumors.
- The study observed that Asian and Black patients had higher proportions of favorable responses, including downstaging or pathological complete response.
- Perioperative chemotherapy was associated with improved OS, and the number of positive lymph nodes and surgical margins were linked to decreases in OS.
Implications:
- The study suggests that neoadjuvant therapy leads to significantly improved outcomes for Hispanic, Asian, or Black patients compared to white patients.
- It highlights the need for future research into the biological differences in tumor behavior across races and emphasizes the importance of including race and ethnicity in clinical trial design and genomic studies for gastric cancer.