Racial differences of secondary metastasis in patients with colon cancer: A United States population-based cohort study.

Abstract

80 Background: Disparities in health outcomes exist among racial and ethnic groups in the United States, notably in patients with colon cancer. Metastasis is the primary cause of cancer morbidity and mortality. However, data on the metastasis risks and clinical outcomes on hospitalized individuals with colon cancer is still limited. Therefore, we aim to assess the association between metastatic colon cancer and racial differences. Methods: We analyzed the 2020 U.S. National Inpatient Sample (NIS) to explore patients who have colon cancer as the primary diagnosis. Additionally, we identified evidence of metastasis, as recorded by ICD-10-CM. Adjusted odds ratios (aORs) for specified outcomes were calculated through multivariable logistic and linear regression analyses. The primary outcome was racial differences in organ metastasis and secondary outcomes included mortality and length of stay. Statistical significance was established at p-value of 0.05. Results: We identified 80,130 patients with primary diagnosis of colon cancer at discharge. The mean age was 67.4 years; 49.7% were female. Caucasians accounted for 69.3%, with African Americans at 13.3% and Hispanics at 8.2%. 15% of the patients had liver metastasis, whereas 22% had lung metastasis. In a multivariate analysis adjusting for patient, COVID-19, chemotherapy usage and hospital factors, African Americans had higher risk of lung metastasis (aOR 1.22; 95%CI (1.07, 1.40), p = 0.003), higher risk of liver metastasis (aOR 1.51; 95%CI (1.31, 1.74), p = 0.021) and longer length of stay (b = 0.95; 95%CI (0.56, 1.33), p = 0.001). Hispanics also had higher risk of lung (aOR 1.22, p < 0.05) and liver metastasis (aOR 1.24, p = 0.021). We observed an increase in risk of metastasis and mortality but non-statistically significant in some parameters and races, as shown in table provided. Conclusions: In conclusion, our study revealed that racial difference is associated with higher risk of metastasis, as well as other outcomes. To establish a causal relationship between races, metastasis, and mortality in patients with colon cancer, further longitudinal research is necessary. [Table: see text]