Differences by race in systemic oncologic end-of-life (EOL) care among patients with cancer.

Abstract

137 Background: Prior studies indicate that Black patients with cancer are more likely to receive aggressive EOL care, including chemotherapy within 14 days (d) prior to death. However, most studies are limited to specific subgroups, and it is unclear if disparities remain in the immunotherapy era. In this study, we evaluated racial differences in systemic oncologic EOL treatment among a national all-payer cohort of patients treated in routine practice. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study utilizing data from the nationwide Flatiron Health electronic health record (EHR)-derived de-identified database. Patients with confirmed cancer diagnosis, with documented treatment on or after 1/1/2011 and who died between 2015 and 2019, were included. Patients with documented race of White or Black or African American were included. We defined our outcome measures as receipt of any systemic oncologic treatment within 30d or 14d prior to death, and also stratified by mono-chemotherapy (Chemo) and immunotherapy ± targeted therapy (ICI). We used mixed-level logistic regression models to assess the likelihood of receiving each treatment, compared to patients without any EOL treatment, between Black and White patients, adjusted for patient- and practice-level characteristics as fixed effects and a practice-specific random intercept. Race-specific adjusted rates were estimated using stratified analysis. Results: A total of 40,675 White and 5,150 Black patients were included in the analysis. Compared to White patients, Black patients were younger at diagnosis, were more likely to be female and have Medicaid coverage. Black patients were more likely to be treated at practices with higher patient-to-physician ratio (25.8% in highest quintile vs. 18.7%) and with a high proportion (> 10%) of patients with Medicaid (38.1% vs. 31.6%). Compared to White patients within the same practice, Black patients were less likely to receive any EOL treatment within 30d (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.81-0.93) or 14d (aOR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.80-0.96). Adjusted rates of any EOL treatment within 30d prior to death were 33.8% and 37.6% among Black and White patients, respectively. When stratified by treatment types, Black patients were less likely to receive ICI within 30d prior to death, compared to White patients (aOR: 0.87; 95% CI: 0.76-1.00). Conclusions: Our findings differ from prior studies of oncologic EOL care and suggest that in contemporary practice Black patients are less likely to receive anti-cancer therapy near EOL, largely driven by lower rates of ICI use. Future research should investigate the complex causal pathway underlying observed racial differences among patient and practice-level factors.