Effect of racial disparities on cancer survival in hematologic malignancies: a population-based analysis of SEER data (2009–2019)

Background Health disparities exist in all aspects of cancer care, and Black patients continue to have the highest cancer mortality. Given major advancements in the treatment of hematologic malignancies, we evaluated whether disparities worsened in hematologic malignancies with longer relative survi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Alma Habib, Ying Huang, Electra D. Paskett, Srinivas Devarakonda, James L. Fisher, Adam S. Kittai
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2025-12-01
Series:Preventive Oncology & Epidemiology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/28322134.2025.2483704
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1849701403810856960
author Alma Habib
Ying Huang
Electra D. Paskett
Srinivas Devarakonda
James L. Fisher
Adam S. Kittai
author_facet Alma Habib
Ying Huang
Electra D. Paskett
Srinivas Devarakonda
James L. Fisher
Adam S. Kittai
author_sort Alma Habib
collection DOAJ
description Background Health disparities exist in all aspects of cancer care, and Black patients continue to have the highest cancer mortality. Given major advancements in the treatment of hematologic malignancies, we evaluated whether disparities worsened in hematologic malignancies with longer relative survival rates (RSR) among Black patients compared to White patients.Methods We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program registries to calculate RSR for Black and White patients diagnosed with 16 hematologic malignancies from 2009 to 2019. Overall survival was estimated using method of Kaplan-Meier. Fine-Gray model associated patient and disease characteristics with cancer-specific mortality. Multivariable models determined if racial disparities varied across RSR and over time.Results Among 329,008 patients, Black patients had lower median overall survival (90 months versus 99 months) and 5-year RSR (66.6% versus 69.6%), and higher cumulative incidence rate of cancer-specific mortality, with increasingly larger interracial gap at later time points. Black patients had higher risk of death for all hematologic malignancies included, and the disparity widened as RSR improved. Over time, the negative association between race and cancer-specific mortality decreased.Discussion Although racial disparities have improved, Black–White disparities remain prevalent in hematologic malignancies and the largest gap exists for diseases with the longest survival.
format Article
id doaj-art-9bd7a01143fe47148b3725dfc6900c84
institution DOAJ
issn 2832-2134
language English
publishDate 2025-12-01
publisher Taylor & Francis Group
record_format Article
series Preventive Oncology & Epidemiology
spelling doaj-art-9bd7a01143fe47148b3725dfc6900c842025-08-20T03:17:57ZengTaylor & Francis GroupPreventive Oncology & Epidemiology2832-21342025-12-013110.1080/28322134.2025.2483704Effect of racial disparities on cancer survival in hematologic malignancies: a population-based analysis of SEER data (2009–2019)Alma Habib0Ying Huang1Electra D. Paskett2Srinivas Devarakonda3James L. Fisher4Adam S. Kittai5Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USADivision of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USADivision of Cancer Prevention and Control, Department of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USADivision of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USAThe James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USADivision of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH, USABackground Health disparities exist in all aspects of cancer care, and Black patients continue to have the highest cancer mortality. Given major advancements in the treatment of hematologic malignancies, we evaluated whether disparities worsened in hematologic malignancies with longer relative survival rates (RSR) among Black patients compared to White patients.Methods We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program registries to calculate RSR for Black and White patients diagnosed with 16 hematologic malignancies from 2009 to 2019. Overall survival was estimated using method of Kaplan-Meier. Fine-Gray model associated patient and disease characteristics with cancer-specific mortality. Multivariable models determined if racial disparities varied across RSR and over time.Results Among 329,008 patients, Black patients had lower median overall survival (90 months versus 99 months) and 5-year RSR (66.6% versus 69.6%), and higher cumulative incidence rate of cancer-specific mortality, with increasingly larger interracial gap at later time points. Black patients had higher risk of death for all hematologic malignancies included, and the disparity widened as RSR improved. Over time, the negative association between race and cancer-specific mortality decreased.Discussion Although racial disparities have improved, Black–White disparities remain prevalent in hematologic malignancies and the largest gap exists for diseases with the longest survival.https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/28322134.2025.2483704Hematologic malignancyracial disparitiesoutcomes
spellingShingle Alma Habib
Ying Huang
Electra D. Paskett
Srinivas Devarakonda
James L. Fisher
Adam S. Kittai
Effect of racial disparities on cancer survival in hematologic malignancies: a population-based analysis of SEER data (2009–2019)
Preventive Oncology & Epidemiology
Hematologic malignancy
racial disparities
outcomes
title Effect of racial disparities on cancer survival in hematologic malignancies: a population-based analysis of SEER data (2009–2019)
title_full Effect of racial disparities on cancer survival in hematologic malignancies: a population-based analysis of SEER data (2009–2019)
title_fullStr Effect of racial disparities on cancer survival in hematologic malignancies: a population-based analysis of SEER data (2009–2019)
title_full_unstemmed Effect of racial disparities on cancer survival in hematologic malignancies: a population-based analysis of SEER data (2009–2019)
title_short Effect of racial disparities on cancer survival in hematologic malignancies: a population-based analysis of SEER data (2009–2019)
title_sort effect of racial disparities on cancer survival in hematologic malignancies a population based analysis of seer data 2009 2019
topic Hematologic malignancy
racial disparities
outcomes
url https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/28322134.2025.2483704
work_keys_str_mv AT almahabib effectofracialdisparitiesoncancersurvivalinhematologicmalignanciesapopulationbasedanalysisofseerdata20092019
AT yinghuang effectofracialdisparitiesoncancersurvivalinhematologicmalignanciesapopulationbasedanalysisofseerdata20092019
AT electradpaskett effectofracialdisparitiesoncancersurvivalinhematologicmalignanciesapopulationbasedanalysisofseerdata20092019
AT srinivasdevarakonda effectofracialdisparitiesoncancersurvivalinhematologicmalignanciesapopulationbasedanalysisofseerdata20092019
AT jameslfisher effectofracialdisparitiesoncancersurvivalinhematologicmalignanciesapopulationbasedanalysisofseerdata20092019
AT adamskittai effectofracialdisparitiesoncancersurvivalinhematologicmalignanciesapopulationbasedanalysisofseerdata20092019