Racial gap decreases when patients given same treatment
January 26th, 2009
Disparities in survival among black patients diagnosed with early-stage lung cancer are not seen when patients undergo appropriate treatment, a new study shows.
Earlier studies have shown that black patients with early-stage lung cancer have lower five-year survival rates than white patients, and this difference in outcome has been attributed to lower rates of surgery among black patients. Why that is the case remains unknown, and theories abound trying to explain it.