35: Race-Ethnic Disparities in Pediatric Cancer Mortality Risk: Insights from SEER Data

Music City Center 

Pediatric cancers vary greatly in etiology, treatment response, and mortality, with significant disparities by histology-based cancer type and race-ethnicity. Using the SEER dataset of 101,328 pediatric cancer patients (1975-2016), we employed the frailty model to estimate mortality risk disparities among racial and ethnic groups. Non-Hispanic African American (NHAA) and Hispanic patients had higher mortality risks than non-Hispanic Caucasians, with NHAA patients facing the worst outcomes. The highest disparities (aHR 1.50-2.00) were in cancers of the digestive system, liver, endocrine system, acute lymphocytic leukemia, urinary systems, chronic leukemia, and Hodgkin lymphoma. Moderate disparities (aHR 1.20-1.49) were in cancers of the brain, CNS, eye and orbit, female genital system, acute myeloid leukemia (AML), other leukemias, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and soft tissue including the heart. Low disparities (aHR 1.10-1.19) were in cancers of bones and joints, and the adrenal gland. Identifying distinct patterns and exploring subgroups in longitudinal trajectories is a key research interest.

Race-Ethnic Disparity

Precision Estimate

Pediatric Cancer Mortality

Frailty Model

SEER Data

Pediatric Oncology Outcomes 

Section on Statistics in Epidemiology