Newswise — DALLAS – July 24, 2024 – Socioeconomic factors can influence the diagnosis and treatment of children in Texas with malignant solid tumors, increasing the risk of the cancer’s spread and lowering the five-year survival rate, according to researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center. The study, published in Journal of the American College of Surgeons , identifies vulnerable populations in an effort to improve outreach and distribution of resources for better health outcomes for pediatric patients. “Despite significant progress in the treatment of pediatric cancer, socioeconomic factors continue to cause outcome disparities, including lower five-year survival among children with malignant solid tumors who live in socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods compared to those from more affluent areas,” said study co-author Dai Chung, M.
D. , Professor of Surgery at UT Southwestern and Chief Medical Executive at Children’s Health. Low socioeconomic status is a well-established factor associated with poor health outcomes for children.
In this study, Dr. Chung and his team evaluated Texas Cancer Registry records of 3,863 children diagnosed with malignant tumors between 1995 and 2019. The average age at diagnosis was 4.
5 years. The researchers’ primary outcome measure was to determine overall patient survival after five years. However, since pediatric malignant tumors often metastasize before they’re found, the team also evaluated for delays in diagnosis.