Impact of care at NCI-designated comprehensive cancer centers (NCICCC) on outcome in adolescents and young adults (AYA) with central nervous system tumors (CNSt).

Abstract

6537 Background: AYA (15-39y) have not seen survival improvement as in younger or older ages with similar cancer diagnoses, leaving an AYA Gap. Pediatric protocol use is associated with superior survival among 15-21y-olds, but impact of site of care for complex diseases with poor prognosis (such as CNSt) that require multidisciplinary, evidence-based care available at NCICCC, are unstudied. Methods: We constructed a cohort of 746 AYA with newly diagnosed CNSt, reported to the LA cancer registry from 1998-2008; 133 (18%) were treated at the 3 NCICCC in LA county. We examined clinical (WHO grade, diagnosis (dx) year, site of care) and demographic (age at dx, gender, SES, insurance, race/ethnicity) variables univariately; we included only those with p<0.1 in the final multivariable model (retaining WHO and NCICCC). Analysis was stratified by time from dx (≤2y, n=746; >2y, n=493) to examine impact of care at NCICCC among AYA with aggressive disease (resulting in death within 2y from dx) vs. those who survived 2y from dx – representing disease likely amenable to new strategies for control. Results: 5y overall survival (OS) was 59% and did not differ by site of care (p=0.2). Multivariable analysis restricted to the first 2y revealed an increased risk of death among those with high WHO grade (HR 4.7, p<.0001); public/no insurance (HR 1.7, p=0.0006); and African American/Asian (HR 2.1, p=0.0006) or Hispanic (HR 1.4, p=0.08) origin; site of care did not impact mortality. Among 2-y survivors, high WHO grade (HR 1.7, p=0.002) continued to be associated with increased risk of death. However, receipt of care at non-NCICCC site (HR 1.6, p=0.056) was also associated with increased risk of death. Examination of access to care at NCICCC revealed that after adjusting for WHO grade and gender, older age (22-39y (OR 0.3, p<0.0001), low SES (OR 0.6, p=0.04), and non-white ethnicity (OR 0.5, p=0.004), decreased likelihood of care at NCICCC. Conclusions: Population-based data reveal better OS in 2-y AYA survivors of CNSt receiving care at NCICCC. Older AYAs from low SES and non-white backgrounds are less likely to use NCICCC. AYA barriers to accessing NCICCC care are currently being explored.