Abstract
Despite advances in diagnosis and treatment, racial disparities continue to exist in colorectal cancer (CRC) survival. This study aims to characterize the CRC survival differences among racial and ethnic minority groups. The Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database was used to identify adults diagnosed with CRC from 2015 to 2019. Demographics, disease characteristics, surgical treatment, stages, and survival data for individuals who are Hispanic, Black, Southeast Asian, Chinese, American Indian and Alaskan Native (AIAN), Asian Indian and Pakistani (AIP), and Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islanders (NHOPI) were extracted. Survival analysis was done using the Kaplan-Meier survival curve. Multivariate analysis was done with the Cox proportional hazard model. There were 40 091 individuals with CRC. NHOPI had the youngest median age of 59 years, while Chinese individuals had the oldest median age of 65 years. From the total sample of their respective subgroups, 43.8% of Black patients and 36.7% of AIAN patients had a median household income of <$60 000, while 55.3% of Southeast Asian patients, 59.7% of Chinese patients, 55.8% of AIP patients, and 65.6% of NHOPI patient had a median household income >$70 000. The 1-year survival rate was lower for patients who were Hispanic (62.0%), Black (60.9%), and AIAN (63.1%). Even after multivariate analysis, Black patients had a significant hazard ratio (HR) of 1.21 (95% confidence interval [95% CI]: 1.05-1.38), while AIP had a HR of 0.68 (95% CI 0.55-0.84), compared to AIAN. Other significant variables that were linked with survival included older age, advanced stage of CRC, a median household income <$60 000, male sex, no surgery, subtotal colectomy/hemicolectomy, and total colectomy. Further studies are needed to elucidate the specific causes of these differences and create appropriate strategies to reduce this survival disparity.