Showing posts with label disparities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disparities. Show all posts
Monday, May 07, 2012
Health News - Targeting ovarian cancer - Dr. Robert Bristow finds disparities in access to the top-quality care that boosts survival
Health News - Targeting ovarian cancer
Dr. Robert Bristow finds disparities in access to the top-quality care that boosts survival
add your opinions
access to care
,
disparities
,
ovarian cancer surgery
Friday, March 16, 2012
abstract: Access to anti-cancer drugs: Many evidence-based treatments are off-label and unfunded by the PBS - Australia
Access to anti-cancer drugs: Many evidence-based treatments are off-label and unfunded by the PBS
ABSTRACT
Background:
The off-label use of a drug refers to a use outside the terms of its
approval by the Therapeutic Goods Administration's (TGA). It is also
possible to prescribe unlicensed drugs under the Therapeutic Goods
Administration's (TGA) Special Access Scheme. A high rate of off-label
prescribing has previously been reported in cancer. Our study aimed to
document the disparity between clincial evidence-based guidelines for
anti-cancer therapy, product approval, and funding status of these
agents within an academic tertiary/quaternary cancer centre.
Method:
All chemotherapy protocols approved for use in our specialist oncology
centre were assessed to determine if the drugs were off-label or
unlicensed for that indication based upon review of their current
product information. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) funding
status for each protocol was subsequently assessed.
Results:
A total of 448 protocols, containing 82 different drugs, across 15
tumour groups were identified. Overall, 189 (42.2%) of protocols were
off-label and 3 (0.7%) were unlicensed. This resulted in all 192
protocols being unfunded by the PBS. Of the 189 off-label protocols, 132
(69.9%) were based on established evidence-based treatment guidelines
and a further 39 (20.6%) were based upon phase II or III clinical trial
data.
Discussion: Over 90% of
off-label protocols are supported by established treatment guidelines or
published peer-reviewed research even though the medications are not
approved for that particular use by the TGA. However, these off-label
protocols are unfunded by the PBS: this results in a marked inequality
of access to appropriate medications for cancer patients across
Australia.
add your opinions
Australia
,
cancer drugs
,
disparities
,
inequities
,
off-label
,
patient access
,
protocols
,
unfunded cancer drugs
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Friday, August 12, 2011
Editorial: Slow Progress in Cancer Care Disparities: HIPAA, PPACA, and CHEWBACCA… But We're Still not There! - the Oncologist
Note: full access may require registration/fee
Several factors (Table 1) appear to contribute to these differences in cancer outcomes, and these must become part of our medical consciousness as deficits that require urgent attention and/or resolution.
View this table:
add your opinions
disparities
,
outcomes
Monday, February 28, 2011
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
abstract: Racial disparities in ovarian cancer surgical care: A population-based analysis
Conclusions Among women undergoing initial surgery for ovarian cancer, African-American patients are significantly less likely to be operated on by a high-volume surgeon and to undergo important ovarian cancer-specific surgical procedures compared to White patients.
add your opinions
african americans
,
disparities
,
surgery
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
AACR Hosts Cancer Disparities Conference in Miami, Fla. abstract online Sept
This year, the American Association for Cancer Research will host its third conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved at the Loews Miami Beach Hotel in Miami, Fla.
Findings presented at this year’s meeting will include:
• proven communication methods for reaching minority populations;
• strategies to increase enrollment in clinical trials;
• prognosis in lung cancer affected by race;
• breast cancer trends in Arab and Israeli Jewish women;
• the importance of social support and physical activity in survivors; and,
• socioeconomics and access to health care.
To help you plan your coverage of the conference, the program schedule is available online at
http://www.aacr.org/disparities2010
abstracts will be available on Sept. 22, 2010
add your opinions
aacr
,
access
,
Arab
,
breast cancer risk
,
clinical trials
,
conference
,
disparities
,
economics
,
ethnicity
,
Jewish
,
minorities
,
racial
,
social support
,
socioeconomics
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Racial differences in stage at diagnosis and survival from epithelial ovarian cancer: A fundamental cause of disease approach
Social Science & Medicine
abstract:
Associations between race, socioeconomic status (SES) and health outcomes have been well established. One of the ways in which race and SES affect health is by influencing one’s access to resources, which confers ability to avoid or mitigate adverse outcomes. The fundamental cause of disease approach argues that when a new screening tool is introduced, individuals with greater resources tend to have better access to the innovation, thus benefiting from early detection and leading to better survival.
Conversely, when there is no established screening tool, racial and SES differences in early detection may be less pronounced.
Most ovarian cancer is diagnosed at advanced stages, because of the lack of an effective screening tool and few early symptoms. However, once detected, racial differences may still be observed in mortality and survival outcomes. We examined the racial differences in diagnosis and survival among ovarian cancer cases diagnosed during 1994–1998, in Cook County, Illinois (N = 351). There were no racial differences in the stage at diagnosis: 51.7% of white and 52.9% of black women were diagnosed at later stages (III and IV). Only age was associated with the stage at diagnosis. Tumor characteristics also did not differ between white and black women. Compared to white women, black women were less likely to be married, less educated, more frequently used genital powder, had tubal ligation, and resided in higher poverty census tracts. As of December 31, 2005, 44.3% of white and 54.5% of black women had died of ovarian cancer. Controlling for known confounding variables, the hazard ratio for ovarian cancer death between black and white women was 2.2. The findings show that fundamental cause perspective provides a potential framework to explore subtleties in racial disparities, with which broader social causes may be accounted for in explaining post diagnosis racial differences.
add your opinions
advanced stage
,
cause
,
disparities
,
early ovarian cancer
,
ethnicity
,
mortality
,
overall survival
,
race
,
social determinents
Friday, January 22, 2010
Cancer, Culture, and Health Disparities: Time to Chart a New Course?
full free access
add your opinions
cancer
,
culture
,
disparities
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