Among advanced head and neck cancer patients receiving radiation-based treatment, being non-English speaking is a more significant predictor of treatment outcome than race, according to researchers from Boston Medical Center (BMC) and Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM).
Their findings, presented this week at the American Society for Radiation Oncology annual meeting in Miami, suggest that language barriers may play a role in healthcare disparities and that further interpreter/translation services are warranted in the care of such diverse patients.
The U.S. has tremendous ethnic and linguistic diversity. According to the 2005-2007 American Community Survey, minorities comprise 26% of the population and nearly 20% of Americans speak a language other than English at home. By 2050, minorities are projected to comprise about half of the U.S. population, with a similar increase in individuals speaking a language other than English at home.
Cultural disparities have been identified within cancer care in the U.S., according to the researchers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how race and language affect treatment outcomes in patients treated with curative intent radiotherapy in head and neck cancer.
To do this, the researchers performed a retrospective study of 132 individuals (68.2% male, 31.8% female) with nonmetastatic and nonrecurrent head and neck cancer, with no prior history of cancer who underwent curative intent radiation therapy. Analyses were conducted to assess differences between patient, treatment, and tumor characteristics by race and language spoken.
"Interestingly, we showed that while race does impact cancer outcomes, non-English speaking patients had significantly worse outcomes," said co-author Minh Tam Truong, MD, the clinical director of radiation oncology at BMC and an assistant professor of radiation oncology at BUSM. "It is important for healthcare providers to be aware of these differences and take steps to ensure open communication in directing cancer treatment."
