Abstract B108: Racial disparities in survival among oral cavity and pharynx cancer patients treated with immunotherapy: Insights from the US National Cancer Database (NCDB)

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: Survival rates for oral cavity and oropharynx cancers vary by race, with Non-Hispanic(NH)-Black patients experiencing relatively lower survival rates compared to NH-White patients. While the potential for improving survival with immunotherapy has been demonstrated in clinical trials, it remains unclear whether racial disparities persist in patients treated with this novel approach. We aimed to evaluate the association between race and all-cause mortality among oral and pharynx cancer patients who received immunotherapy. Methods: This study utilized the National Cancer Database (NCDB) to investigate racial disparities in survival after immunotherapy among patients diagnosed with oral cavity and pharynx cancers between 2013 and 2017. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards models were employed to calculate hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) by race/ethnicity. Results: The study cohort included 7,714 patients, consisting of 7,011 NH-White patients and 703 NH-Black patients. During the follow-up period, mortality occurred in 45.5% of NH-White patients and 59.5% of NH-Black patients. After adjusting for sociodemographic, clinical, and treatment factors, NH-Black patients had a higher risk of death compared to NH-White patients (HR: 1.24; 95% CI: 1.11, 1.38). Additionally, the study found no significant differences in the interaction between race and Charlson-Deyo comorbidity score or race and area-level median income. Conclusion: This study suggests that urgent action is needed to address these disparities to improve outcomes for NH-Black patients with oral cavity and pharynx cancers. Citation Format: Danting Yang, Shama Karanth. Racial disparities in survival among oral cavity and pharynx cancer patients treated with immunotherapy: Insights from the US National Cancer Database (NCDB) [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 16th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved; 2023 Sep 29-Oct 2;Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2023;32(12 Suppl):Abstract nr B108.