Better access to health care is key to higher survival rates for African-Americans with co...( verall survival rate compared to 66 per...),Health

The data also showed that white patients were significantly more likely than African-American patients to experience chemotherapy-related side effects, including diarrhea (sometimes severe), nausea, vomiting, and stomatitis (an inflammation of the mouth). The reasons for these differences in chemotherapy-related side effects aren't clear, Fuchs and his co-authors write, but may have to do with undefined genetic differences between whites and African-Americans in the general population.

Although previous studies have found that African-Americans with colon cancer generally don't survive as long as whites with the disease, the new study is one of the first to compare survival rates when the availability of quality care is equal for all patients. If African-Americans as a group have poorer access to such care, their tumors are less likely to be detected and treated at an early stage, when prospects for recovery are best.

"Our study shows the value of the National Cancer Institute's efforts to increase African-Americans' participation in clinical trials," explains the study's first author, A. David McCollum, M.D., who conducted the research while he was at Dana-Farber and is now a practicing oncologist in Texas. "Increased enrollment by members of minority groups will ultimately lead to better care for people in traditionally underserved populations."

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Contact: Janet Haley Dubow
janet_haley@dfci.harvard.edu
617-632-5665
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
6-Aug-2002