People diagnosed with colorectal cancer before age 50 who live in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods in Kentucky and Georgia had a 30% higher risk of dying from the disease, according to a study led by University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center researcher Justin Xavier Moore, Ph.D.
Moore, an associate professor in the UK College of Medicine and assistant director for community impact at the UK Markey Cancer Center, presented the findings at the 19th American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities, held Oct. 18-21 in Atlanta.
Both incidence and mortality rates of early-onset colorectal cancer, which is typically defined as cases in individuals under 50, have been on the rise in recent years.
Moore’s team, which included Meng-Han (Mina) Tsai, Ph.D., of Augusta University, studied 68,789 colorectal cancer patients from the Kentucky and Georgia cancer registries diagnosed between 2011 and 2022. They compared outcomes with the Social Vulnerability Index, a federal measure of community disadvantage based on census data.
Neighborhood income and education levels, along with housing and transportation, were the factors most closely tied to higher death rates.
The study findings will help to inform efforts to direct patient navigation, transportation assistance and other support services to the communities with the greatest need.
Read the full AACR news release to learn more.
The study was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R21CA301113. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.