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Author Notes:

Sharon M. Castellino, Emory University School of Medicine, Director, Leukemia/Lymphoma Program, Aflac Cancer and Blood Disorders Center, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, 2015 Uppergate Drive, Atlanta, GA 30322. Phone: 404-702-9296. Email: sharon.castellino@choa.org

X. Ji: Conceptualization, visualization, methodology, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing. H. Sohn: Conceptualization, methodology, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing. S. Sil: Conceptualization, methodology, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing. S.M. Castellino: Conceptualization, supervision, methodology, writing–original draft, writing–review and editing.

No disclosures were reported.

Subjects:

Research Funding:

This work was supported in part by grants R03CA259665 (to X. Ji and S.M. Castellino) and R03CA267456 (to X. Ji and S.M. Castellino) from the National Cancer Institute of the NIH, grant R00HD096322 (to H. Sohn) from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development of the NIH, and grant K23HL133457 (to S. Sil) from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the NIH.

Keywords:

  • Science & Technology
  • Life Sciences & Biomedicine
  • Oncology
  • Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
  • HEALTH-INSURANCE
  • SEGREGATION
  • COVERAGE
  • STANDARD
  • CARE

Moving Beyond Patient-Level Drivers of Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Childhood Cancer

Tools:

Journal Title:

CANCER EPIDEMIOLOGY BIOMARKERS & PREVENTION

Volume:

Volume 31, Number 6

Publisher:

, Pages 1154-1158

Type of Work:

Article | Post-print: After Peer Review

Abstract:

Racial/ethnic disparities in childhood cancer survival persist despite advances in cancer biology and treatment. Survival rates are consistently lower among non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic children as compared with non-Hispanic White children across a range of hematologic cancers and solid tumors. We provide a framework for considering complex systems and social determinants of health in research examining the drivers of racial/ethnic disparities in childhood cancer survival, given that pediatric patients’ interactions with the healthcare system are filtered through their caregiver, family, and societal structure. Dismantling the multi-level (patient, family, healthcare system, and structural) barriers into modifiable drivers is critical to developing policies and interventions toward equitable health outcomes. This commentary highlights areas at the family, healthcare system, and society levels that merit closer examination and proposes actions and interventions to support improvements across these levels.
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