A recent study at the University of Arizona concluded that there is an increased number of advanced-stage kidney carcinoma in Hispanic Americans and Native Americans than in the Nonhispanic American Population. The study also concluded that there is an increased risk of death from advanced stage kidney carcinoma in Hispanic and Native Americans in the state of Arizona.
Cancer
This study was done by a team of researchers at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, led by Dr. Ken Batai. Dr. Ken Batai is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Arizona. He is a cancer disparity researcher with training in medical anthropology and anthropological genetics. The current disparities regarding Advanced kidney cancer in Hispanic Populations in Arizona have been noticed for the first time by his team and this information can be very useful for clinical professionals and serve as a point of investigation for future research questions.
Dr. Batai’s team looked at data from Arizona Cancer Registry and National Cancer Database to study the discrepancies in the surgical treatment of kidney carcinoma. They also studied if delayed treatments are associated with increased rates of death in Hispanic and Native Americans.
The researchers created subgroups of state data of Hispanic Americans including U.S born Mexican Americans. They found out that the risk of death is three times higher in this subgroup when compared to nonhispanic White Americans. National Database does not have this subgroup which puts this subgroup at the risk of underreported at the national level.
According to Dr.Batai, this disparity is primarily due to differences in data collection processes at the national and state levels. At the state level, the collection process is registry-based which puts Hispanic Americans in Arizona at the risk of underrepresentation at the national level as many small clinics may not report to the national database.
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According to the study, the risk of developing advanced kidney carcinoma is two times higher in Hispanic Americans than that of Non-Hispanic Americans in Arizona. Similarly, the risk of death in Hispanic Americans from early-stage kidney carcinoma is two times that of the Non-Hispanic white population.
In Native Americans, the risk of developing advanced-stage kidney cancer is 30% higher and the risk of death in Native Americans from early-stage kidney cancer is 30% higher.
According to researchers, the current findings make the explanation of delayed treatment for increased risk of death due to kidney cancer unlikely. The researchers further explained that this increased risk may be explained by the increased prevalence of blood pressure and diabetes in Hispanic and Native American populations as both of these factors are risk factors for kidney carcinoma. Researchers are also trying to study if there is a biological basis for these cancer disparities. They also think that current findings can be used to steer the direction of future research to find out reasons for this increased risk in these populations.
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References
National Library of Medicine, Renal Cell Carcinoma Health Disparities in Stage and Mortality among American Indians/Alaska Natives and Hispanic Americans: Comparison of National Cancer Database and Arizona Cancer Registry Data, Accessed May 21, 2021, https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33673457/
The University of Arizona Health Sciences, Increased Risk of Mortality Found for Arizona’s Hispanic, Native American Kidney Cancer Patients, Accessed May 21, 2021, https://healthsciences.arizona.edu/newsroom/news-releases/2021/increased-risk-mortality-found-arizonas-hispanic-native-american-kidney
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