Associations of Social Vulnerability and Race‐Ethnicity With Gastrointestinal Cancers in the United States

ABSTRACT Background National social determinant of health (SDoH) studies on gastrointestinal cancers (GIC) have observed single GIC‐types for surgery but not across all GIC‐types, non‐surgical treatments outcomes, or mortality. The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a validated large‐data SDoH‐tool,...

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Main Authors: David J. Fei‐Zhang, David J. Bentrem, Jeffrey D. Wayne, Lifang Hou, Peiwen Fei, Timothy M. Pawlik
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2025-03-01
Series:Cancer Medicine
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.70591
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author David J. Fei‐Zhang
David J. Bentrem
Jeffrey D. Wayne
Lifang Hou
Peiwen Fei
Timothy M. Pawlik
author_facet David J. Fei‐Zhang
David J. Bentrem
Jeffrey D. Wayne
Lifang Hou
Peiwen Fei
Timothy M. Pawlik
author_sort David J. Fei‐Zhang
collection DOAJ
description ABSTRACT Background National social determinant of health (SDoH) studies on gastrointestinal cancers (GIC) have observed single GIC‐types for surgery but not across all GIC‐types, non‐surgical treatments outcomes, or mortality. The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a validated large‐data SDoH‐tool, quantifiably characterizes the interrelatedness of SDoH‐impact through dynamic, region‐contextualized measures. Methods This retrospective cohort study assessed GIC patients (20+ years) between 2013 and 2017 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for total and subcomponent social vulnerability associations across 15 SDoH‐variables encompassing themes of socioeconomic status, minority‐language status, household composition, and housing‐transportation measured by the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). These are measured and contextualized from all US counties. Univariate logistic and linear regressions of these vulnerability associations with treatment receipt (chemotherapy, radiation, primary surgery) and survival were performed for the entire cohort and across race/ethnicity strata. Results With increasing overall social vulnerability, 287,248 patients (162,387 [56.5%] male; 185,250 [64.6%] white) demonstrated decreased receipt of chemotherapy (lowest, pancreas‐OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.88–0.93), radiotherapy (hepatic‐OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.85–0.89) and surgery (esophagus‐OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.87–0.92) for 13/14, 10/14, and 8/14 GIC‐types, respectively. Survival period decreases upwards of 21.3% (biliary tract: 6.9–5.4 months) were observed across 7/14 GICs. Treatment receipt and survival decreases were exacerbated for non‐White patients for 9/14 GICs. Socioeconomic status, minority‐language, household composition, and housing‐transportation vulnerabilities differentially contributed to these trends. Discussion Social vulnerability was associated with worse prognostic and treatment disparities, with certain SDoH‐types differentially contributing to these detrimental trends per GIC‐type while associations were exacerbated among non‐White race/ethnic patients. These real‐world contexts present actionable targets for further initiatives to combat GIC disparities.
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spelling doaj-art-2130bb6c931a4bad9afaede995e3f1692025-08-20T02:59:07ZengWileyCancer Medicine2045-76342025-03-01145n/an/a10.1002/cam4.70591Associations of Social Vulnerability and Race‐Ethnicity With Gastrointestinal Cancers in the United StatesDavid J. Fei‐Zhang0David J. Bentrem1Jeffrey D. Wayne2Lifang Hou3Peiwen Fei4Timothy M. Pawlik5Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago Illinois USADepartment of Surgery Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago Illinois USADepartment of Surgery Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago Illinois USADepartment of Preventive Medicine Feinberg School of Medicine Chicago Illinois USAUniversity of Hawaii Cancer Center, University of Hawaii Honolulu Hawaii USADepartment of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and James Comprehensive Cancer Center Columbus Ohio USAABSTRACT Background National social determinant of health (SDoH) studies on gastrointestinal cancers (GIC) have observed single GIC‐types for surgery but not across all GIC‐types, non‐surgical treatments outcomes, or mortality. The Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a validated large‐data SDoH‐tool, quantifiably characterizes the interrelatedness of SDoH‐impact through dynamic, region‐contextualized measures. Methods This retrospective cohort study assessed GIC patients (20+ years) between 2013 and 2017 from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for total and subcomponent social vulnerability associations across 15 SDoH‐variables encompassing themes of socioeconomic status, minority‐language status, household composition, and housing‐transportation measured by the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI). These are measured and contextualized from all US counties. Univariate logistic and linear regressions of these vulnerability associations with treatment receipt (chemotherapy, radiation, primary surgery) and survival were performed for the entire cohort and across race/ethnicity strata. Results With increasing overall social vulnerability, 287,248 patients (162,387 [56.5%] male; 185,250 [64.6%] white) demonstrated decreased receipt of chemotherapy (lowest, pancreas‐OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.88–0.93), radiotherapy (hepatic‐OR, 0.87; 95% CI, 0.85–0.89) and surgery (esophagus‐OR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.87–0.92) for 13/14, 10/14, and 8/14 GIC‐types, respectively. Survival period decreases upwards of 21.3% (biliary tract: 6.9–5.4 months) were observed across 7/14 GICs. Treatment receipt and survival decreases were exacerbated for non‐White patients for 9/14 GICs. Socioeconomic status, minority‐language, household composition, and housing‐transportation vulnerabilities differentially contributed to these trends. Discussion Social vulnerability was associated with worse prognostic and treatment disparities, with certain SDoH‐types differentially contributing to these detrimental trends per GIC‐type while associations were exacerbated among non‐White race/ethnic patients. These real‐world contexts present actionable targets for further initiatives to combat GIC disparities.https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.70591disparityethnicitygastrointestinal cancerracesocial determinants of healthsocial vulnerability
spellingShingle David J. Fei‐Zhang
David J. Bentrem
Jeffrey D. Wayne
Lifang Hou
Peiwen Fei
Timothy M. Pawlik
Associations of Social Vulnerability and Race‐Ethnicity With Gastrointestinal Cancers in the United States
Cancer Medicine
disparity
ethnicity
gastrointestinal cancer
race
social determinants of health
social vulnerability
title Associations of Social Vulnerability and Race‐Ethnicity With Gastrointestinal Cancers in the United States
title_full Associations of Social Vulnerability and Race‐Ethnicity With Gastrointestinal Cancers in the United States
title_fullStr Associations of Social Vulnerability and Race‐Ethnicity With Gastrointestinal Cancers in the United States
title_full_unstemmed Associations of Social Vulnerability and Race‐Ethnicity With Gastrointestinal Cancers in the United States
title_short Associations of Social Vulnerability and Race‐Ethnicity With Gastrointestinal Cancers in the United States
title_sort associations of social vulnerability and race ethnicity with gastrointestinal cancers in the united states
topic disparity
ethnicity
gastrointestinal cancer
race
social determinants of health
social vulnerability
url https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.70591
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