Geographic disparities in head and neck cancer survival

xlomafota13 shared this article with you from Inoreader Geographic disparities in head and neck cancer survival in Upstate New York 2011–2019 Via Head & Neck Abstract Purpose To examine the association between distance to care-center and urban–rural residence on 5-year overall survival (OS) from head and neck cancer (HNC). Materials and methods Five-year OS was retrospectively measured from date of initial diagnosis for patients with HNC treated at a single tertiary care center. Distances were calculated based on ZIP code of patient's residence and care center. Multilevel Weibull regression was used to adjust for confounders and identify disparities in 5-year all-cause mortality. Results A total of 670 patients included in study. Multivariable analysis revealed older age or late-stage cancer at diagnosis, and HPV negative status were associated with poorer OS. Patients residing in isolated small rural town (HR = 2.20, p = 0.015) or small rural town (HR = 2.07, p = 0.015) had lower OS. Distance to care center was not associated with OS (HR = 0.996, p = 0.11). Conclusions Greater rurality was associated with poorer OS among HNC patients in Upstate New York. View on the web Inoreader. Take back control of your news feed. Follow us on Twitter and Facebook.