Original Article

You have full text access to this OnlineOpen article

Racial disparities and treatment trends in a large cohort of elderly African Americans and Caucasians with colorectal cancer, 1991 to 2002

  1. Arica White MPH1,†,‡,*,
  2. Chih-Chin Liu MS1,
  3. Rui Xia MS1,
  4. Keith Burau PhD2,
  5. Janice Cormier MD, MPH3,
  6. Wenyaw Chan PhD2,
  7. Xianglin L. Du MD, PhD1

Article first published online: 17 OCT 2008

DOI: 10.1002/cncr.23924

Issue

Cancer

Cancer

Volume 113, Issue 12, pages 3400–3409, 15 December 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

White, A., Liu, C.-C., Xia, R., Burau, K., Cormier, J., Chan, W. and Du, X. L. (2008), Racial disparities and treatment trends in a large cohort of elderly African Americans and Caucasians with colorectal cancer, 1991 to 2002. Cancer, 113: 3400–3409. doi: 10.1002/cncr.23924

Author Information

  1. 1

    Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas

  2. 2

    Division of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas

  3. 3

    Department of Surgical Oncology, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

  1. †

    Arica White is the recipient of a predoctoral fellowship under a National Cancer Institute training grant (R25-CA057712).

  2. ‡

    Fax: (713) 500-9750

*The University of Texas School of Public Health, 7000 Fannin, Suite 2510-J, Houston, TX 77030

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 4 DEC 2008
  2. Article first published online: 17 OCT 2008
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 20 JUL 2008
  4. Manuscript Revised: 7 JUL 2008
  5. Manuscript Received: 7 MAR 2008

Funded by

  • Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Grant Number: R01-HS016743

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (138K)

REFERENCES

  • 1
    Institute of Medicine. Unequal Treatment: Confronting Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Health Care. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 2002.
  • 2
    American Cancer Society. Cancer Facts and Figures 2008. Atlanta, Ga: American Cancer Society; 2008.
  • 3
    National Cancer Institute. Colon Cancer Treatment (PDQ) Volume 2007. Bethesda, Md: National Cancer Institute; 2007.
  • 4
    [No authors listed] NIH Consensus Conference. Adjuvant therapy for patients with colon and rectal cancer. JAMA. 1990; 264: 1444–1450.
  • 5
    National Cancer Institute. Rectal Cancer Treatment (PDQ) Volume 2008. Bethesda, Md: National Cancer Institute; 2008.
  • 6
    Baldwin LM,Dobie SA,Billingsley K, et al. Explaining black-white differences in receipt of recommended colon cancer treatment. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2005; 97: 1211–1220.
  • 7
    Ayanian JZ,Zaslavsky AM,Fuchs CS, et al. Use of adjuvant chemotherapy and radiation therapy for colorectal cancer in a population-based cohort. J Clin Oncol. 2003; 21: 1293–1300.
  • 8
    Demissie K,Oluwole OO,Balasubramanian BA, et al. Racial differences in the treatment of colorectal cancer: a comparison of surgical and radiation therapy between whites and blacks. Ann Epidemiol. 2004; 14: 215–221.
  • 9
    Schrag D,Cramer LD,Bach PB, et al. Age and adjuvant chemotherapy use after surgery for stage III colon cancer. JNatl Cancer Inst. 2001; 93: 850–857.
  • 10
    Gross CP,Smith BD,Wolf E, et al. Racial disparities in cancer therapy: did the gap narrow between 1992 and 2002? Cancer. 2008; 112: 900–908.
    Direct Link:
  • 11
    Jessup JM,Stewart A,Greene FL, et al. Adjuvant chemotherapy for stage III colon cancer: implications of race/ethnicity, age, and differentiation. JAMA. 2005; 294: 2703–2711.
  • 12
    National Cancer Institute. SEER-Medicare Linked Database. Bethesda, Md: National Cancer Institute; 2004. Available at: http://healthservices.cancer.gov/seermedicare Accessed on July 1, 2008.
  • 13
    Warren JL,Klabunde CN,Schrag D, et al. Overview of the SEER-Medicare data: content, research applications, and generalizability to the United States elderly population. Med Care. 2002; 40( 8 suppl): IV-3–IV-18.
  • 14
    Potosky AL,Riley GF,Lubitz JD, et al. Potential for cancer related health services research using a linked Medicare-tumor registry database. Med Care. 1993; 31: 732–748.
  • 15
    National Cancer Institute. The SEER Program Code Manual: Revised Edition. Bethesda, Md: National Cancer Institute; 1994.
  • 16
    US Public Health Services. International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification. 5th ed. Los Angeles, Calif: Practice Management Information Corporation; 1996.
  • 17
    American Medical Association. Physicians' Current Procedural Terminology-CPT 2000. Chicago, Ill: American Medical Association; 2000.
  • 18
    Du X,Freeman JL,Goodwin JS. Information on radiation treatment in patients with breast cancer: the advantages of the linked Medicare and SEER data. Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results. J Clin Epidemiol. 1999; 52: 463–470.
  • 19
    Du X,Goodwin JS. Patterns of use of chemotherapy for breast cancer in older women: findings from Medicare claims data. J Clin Oncol. 2001; 19: 1455–1461.
  • 20
    Du XL,Key CR,Dickie L, et al. External validation of Medicare claims for breast cancer chemotherapy compared with medical chart reviews. Med Care. 2006; 44: 124–131.
  • 21
    Health Care Financing Administration. HCFA Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS): National Level II Medicare Codes. Los Angeles, Calif: Practice Management Information Corporation; 2000.
  • 22
    National Cancer Institute. SEER-Medicare: Identification of Diagnosis and Procedure Codes. Bethesda, Md: National Cancer Institute; 2008. Available at: http://healthservices.cancer.gov/seermedicare/programs/comorbidity.html Accessed on July 1, 2008.
  • 23
    Du XL,Chan W,Giordano S, et al. Variation in modes of chemotherapy administration for breast carcinoma and association with hospitalization for chemotherapy-related toxicity. Cancer. 2005; 104: 913–924.
    Direct Link:
  • 24
    Roetzheim RG,Pal N,Gonzalez EC, et al. Effects of health insurance and race on colorectal cancer treatments and outcomes. Am J Public Health. 2000; 90: 1746–1754.
  • 25
    Cronin DP,Harlan LC,Potosky AL, et al. Patterns of care for adjuvant therapy in a random population-based sample of patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Am J Gastroenterol. 2006; 101: 2308–2318.
    Direct Link:
  • 26
    Du XL,Fang S,Vernon SW, et al. Racial disparities and socioeconomic status in association with survival in a large population-based cohort of elderly patients with colon cancer. Cancer. 2007; 110: 660–669.
    Direct Link:
  • 27
    Du XL,Meyer TE,Franzini L. Meta-analysis of racial disparities in survival in association with socioeconomic status among men and women with colon cancer. Cancer. 2007; 109: 2161–2170.
    Direct Link:
  • 28
    Ball JK,Elixhauser A. Treatment differences between blacks and whites with colorectal cancer. Med Care. 1996; 34: 970–984.
  • 29
    Shavers VL,Brown ML. Racial and ethnic disparities in the receipt of cancer treatment. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2002; 94: 334–357.
  • 30
    Beart RW,Steele GDJr,Menck HR, et al. Management and survival of patients with adenocarcinoma of the colon and rectum: a national survey of the Commission on Cancer. JAm Coll Surg. 1995; 181: 225–236.
  • 31
    Cooper GS,Yuan Z,Landefeld CS, et al. Surgery for colorectal cancer: Race-related differences in rates and survival among Medicare beneficiaries. Am J Public Health. 1996; 86: 582–586.
  • 32
    Mayberry RM,Coates RJ,Hill HA, et al. Determinants of black/white differences in colon cancer survival. J Natl Cancer Inst. 1995; 87: 1686–1693.
  • 33
    Govindarajan R,Shah RV,Erkman LG, et al. Racial differences in the outcome of patients with colorectal carcinoma. Cancer. 2003; 97: 493–498.
    Direct Link:
  • 34
    Potosky AL,Harlan LC,Kaplan RS, et al. Age, sex, and racial differences in the use of standard adjuvant therapy for colorectal cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2002; 20: 1192–1202.
  • 35
    Schrag D,Rifas-Shiman S,Saltz L, et al. Adjuvant chemotherapy use for Medicare beneficiaries with stage II colon cancer. J Clin Oncol. 2002; 20: 3999–4005.
  • 36
    Du X,Freeman JL,Warren JL, et al. Accuracy and completeness of Medicare claims data for surgical treatment of breast cancer. Med Care. 2000; 38: 719–727.
  • 37
    Du XL,Fang S,Coker AL, et al. Racial disparity and socioeconomic status in association with survival in older men with local/regional stage prostate carcinoma: findings from a large community-based cohort. Cancer. 2006; 106: 1276–1285.
    Direct Link:
View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (138K)