News: Low-income households at critical risk for non-small lung cancer mortality, study suggests

Socioeconomic status plays a significant role in steering early onset non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) outcomes, according to new research published in JAMA Network Open.

The analysis observed 18,595 patients aged 18 to 50. In the cohort examined, 53.4% of patients presented with stage IV NSCLC; 83.9% of patients were 40-50 years old; 52.2% were female; 60.0% were white; 14.5% were Black; and 12.6% were Hispanic.

According to the study’s regression analysis, the following traits were “independently associated with worse survival” odds:

• Stage IV disease
• Liver metastases
• Low household income
• Squamous carcinoma histology
• Male sex

Notably, among those with stage I NSCLC, rural residency was associated with a 65% increased risk of death and low household income was associated with a 96% increased risk of death.

“Advanced stage at diagnosis remained the most prominent factor associated with poor outcome[s], but disparities in household income, rural residence, and treatment timing were also significant factors in early-stage survival,” the authors noted.

“These findings,” they continued, “call for the development of risk-adapted screening strategies, improved access to curative treatments, and policy interventions to address socioeconomic barriers in this underserved population.”

Editor’s note: To read the JAMA Network Open study, click here.