02 May Disparity and Diversity in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Imaging and Genomics

MedicalResearch.com Interview with:

Dr. Kohan

Andres Kohan MD
MHSc. in Translational Research
Joint Department of Medical Imaging
University Health Network
Mount Sinai Hospital and Women’s College Hospital
University of Toronto
Toronto, Canada

MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?

Response: Inequalities in access to healthcare for oncologic patients and its impact on quality of life and survival have been previously described. However, there also exists reports pointing out that when factors contributing to socioeconomic inequality are accounted for differences in outcome between races remain identifiable.

In this context, we sought to evaluate the presence of disparities in imaging in a selected population of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) within AACRs Project GENIE Biopharma Consortium (BPC) dataset v 1.1. This database is the largest in existence that has not only the patients’ imaging and clinical staging/follow-up, but also the genetic profile of the patients’ tumors.

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?

Response:  What we found was that when considering the patients’ race, we could not identify inequalities at the time of initial staging or their follow-up. We also identified and confirmed published data on different genetic mutation prevalence in NSCLC between races.

However, our most relevant finding was that when considering race, genetic mutations and imaging follow-up, imaging status at 3 or 6 months had the strongest association to overall survival (OS). Although, this could seem evident, not all diseases show this direct correlation and it becomes extremely relevant for the planning of clinical trials assessing new drugs.

MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?

Response: Imaging in NSCLC remains extremely relevant in the current hyper-personalized medical context and proper and timely access to it should be secured for all NSCLC patients given the impact its results can have in overall survival. 

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a results of this study?

Response: One of the most relevant weakness of the study is the sample size of non-white patients. Although we had enough power to attain our objectives, adequate representation of the different races should be considered at the beginning of any future research addressing inequalities and actions should be taken towards securing such representation. In our case, the database we worked with did not have the identification of inequalities among its objectives, which explains the selection bias.

Citation:

Kohan A, Kulanthaivelu R, Hinzpeter R, Liu ZA, Ortega C, Leighl N, Metser U, Veit-Haibach P; AACR Project GENIE BPC Core Team. Disparity and Diversity in NSCLC Imaging and Genomics: Evaluation of a Mature, Multicenter Database. Cancers (Basel). 2023 Mar 31;15(7):2096. doi: 10.3390/cancers15072096. PMID: 37046757; PMCID: PMC10093674.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37046757/

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Last Updated on May 2, 2023 by Marie Benz