open access: Outcomes in Ovarian Cancer among Hispanic Women Living in the United States: A Population-Based Analysis

Abstract

Introduction
Ovarian cancer is the deadliest gynecologic cancer in the United States. There is limited data on presentation and outcomes among Hispanic women with ovarian cancer.

Objective.
To investigate how ovarian cancer presents among Hispanic women in the USA and to analyze differences in presentation, staging, and survival between Hispanic and non-Hispanic women with ovarian cancer.

Methods
Data from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2004 were extracted from the National Cancer Institute’s Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) database. Results. The study sample comprised 1215 Hispanics (10%), 10 652 non-Hispanic whites (83%), and 905 non-Hispanic blacks (7%). Hispanic women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer at a younger age and earlier stage when compared to non-Hispanic whites, non-Hispanic blacks.......

".....The current study has several limitations that must be considered when interpreting the results.  First, the use of the SEER database as our source of patients lacks external validity. The SEER database only represents 14% of the USA population. The configuration of the SEER data set does not allow stratification of different Hispanic subgroups in order to evaluate whether the diagnosis of ovarian cancer at a younger age is a Hispanic characteristic or whether it is more strongly related to the subethnicity within the Hispanic community. There is incomplete followup, and also, the self-reporting of race and ethnicity may be subjective. The information in the SEER database does not provide information on provider specialization.



Despite these limitations, the current study provides the most extensive comparison of ovarian cancer patterns between Hispanic and non-Hispanic women in the United States. The observation that Hispanic women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer at an earlier age than non-Hispanic groups underscores the need for additional studies to explore this trend. The information obtained from this study is useful given the anticipated changes in the USA population over the next few decades. This could influence the allocation of health care resources and guide the provision of specialized cancer care to at-risk demographic groups. "