Disparities in receipt of palliative-intent treatment among disaggregated Hispanic populations with breast, lung, and prostate cancer in the United States

Abstract

Background: Despite palliative-intent interventions' ability to improve the quality of life of patients, significant inequalities persist in uptake. Such disparities are characterized by racial, socioeconomic, and geographic factors. However, less is known among disaggregated Hispanic populations. This study examines disparities in the receipt of palliative-intent interventions among Hispanic subgroups with advanced lung, breast, and prostate cancer.

Methods: Via the National Cancer Data Base, data were collected on the receipt of palliative-intent interventions among Hispanic subgroups diagnosed with American Joint Committee on Cancer analytic stage IV breast, lung, and prostate cancer between 2004 and 2021. Multivariate logistic regressions were conducted to quantify differences in the uptake of palliative-intent care among Hispanic subgroups.

Results: Among 945,894 total patients, disaggregated analyses revealed reduced receipt of palliative-intent interventions for patients with lung, breast, and prostate cancer of Mexican descent (lung, p < .001; breast, p < .001; prostate, p = .03) compared to non-Hispanic White patients. Receipt for patients of South or Central American descent was reduced in comparison to non-Hispanic White patients for lung and breast cancer (lung, p < .001; breast, p < .001). Uptake of palliative interventions for metastatic lung and breast cancer was reduced for patients of Cuban descent (lung, p < .001; breast, p = .03), and was lower for patients of Dominican descent with breast cancer, compared to non-Hispanic White patients (p = .05).

Conclusions: These findings demonstrate disparities in the receipt of palliative-intent interventions among disaggregated Hispanic subgroups. This study highlights the need for disaggregated research to further characterize these disparities and their drivers. Community-level and patient-centric efforts may help to address these inequities.

Keywords: Hispanic health disparities; breast cancer; cancer; disaggregation; disparities; lung cancer; metastatic; palliative care; prostate cancer; race/ethnicity.