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. 2023 Aug;149(9):5573-5582.
doi: 10.1007/s00432-022-04505-0. Epub 2022 Dec 10.

Impact of patient nationality on the severity of early side effects after radiotherapy

Mümtaz Köksal  1 , Romy Streppel  2 , Stefan Hauser  3 , Alina Abramian  4 , Christina Kaiser  4 , Maria Gonzalez-Carmona  5 , Georg Feldmann  5 , Niklas Schäfer  6 , Sebastian Koob  7 , Mohammed Banat  8 , Motaz Hamed  8 , Frank A Giordano  9 , Leonard C Schmeel  2
Affiliations

Impact of patient nationality on the severity of early side effects after radiotherapy

Mümtaz Köksal et al. J Cancer Res Clin Oncol. 2023 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Major demographical changes in Germany commenced in the 1960s. Ongoing humanitarian crises in the Ukraine with subsequent immigration will have also long-range effects on national provision of cancer treatment. Ensuring the best possible outcomes for each cancer patient undergoing radiotherapy requires the prediction and prevention of unfavorable side effects. Given that recent research has primarily focused on clinical outcome indicators solely, less is known regarding sociodemographic predictors of therapeutic outcomes, such as patient nationality. Here, we investigated whether the severity of early side effects after radiotherapy are associated with patient nationality and other sociodemographic and clinical characteristics.

Methods: Out of 9187 patients treated at a German university medical center between 2017 and 2021, 178 German and 178 non-German patients were selected for matched-pair analysis based on diagnostic and demographic criteria. For all 356 patients, data on side effects from follow-up care after radiotherapy were collected.

Results: Non-German patients were more likely to have severe side effects than German patients. Side effect severity was also associated with tumor entity, concomitant therapy, body mass index, and age.

Conclusion: Foreign cancer patients are at higher risk of experiencing severe side effects of radiotherapy, suggesting a need to develop and implement targeted preventive measures for these patients. Further research investigating factors predicting the occurrence of radiotherapy side effects, including other sociodemographic characteristics, is needed to better personalize therapy regimens for cancer.

Keywords: Immigration; Personalize therapy; Preventive medicine; Radiation therapy; Side effects.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interest to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Data collection and patient matching process. RT, radiotherapy
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Frequencies of tumor entities categorized into 17 superordinate groups
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Origin of foreign patients categorized by geographic region
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Expected and observed numbers of German and foreign patients who experienced mild-to-moderate and severe side effects
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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