Cancer Patients Get Poorer Care at Hospitals Serving Minority Communities [Video]

Key Takeaways

Cancer patients receive poorer care at hospitals that mainly serve minority communities.Breast, prostate, lung and colon cancer patients were all less likely to receive definitive treatments at those hospitalsMore than 5,700 patients could receive the best care if improvements are made

THURSDAY, May 30, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Cancer patients receive less effective treatment at hospitals that mainly serve minority communities, a new study shows.

More than 9% of cancer patients are treated at hospitals where a significant percentage of patients are from minority groups, researchers say.

Those patients are less likely to get the best care for breast, prostate, lung and colon cancer, according to an analysis of about 2.9 million U.S. patients who received care at 1,330 hospitals between 2010 and 2019:

Patients treated for breast cancer were 17% less likely to receive surgery, which is considered the definitive treatment for that cancerProstate cancer patients were 31% less likely …