Alexander Podboy, MD
Lower-income people are significantly less likely to receive a potentially lifesaving treatment for the fastest-increasing type of esophageal cancer – and are more likely to die from the disease, new research from UVA Cancer Center reveals.
The study highlights troubling socioeconomic disparities in treatment access for early stage esophageal adenocarcinoma, an increasingly common cancer of the food tube that can be cured if treated early but can be fatal if treated too late. UVA researchers found that patients from lower-income households were more likely to die than those from higher-income brackets.
“These findings are alarming,” said researcher Alexander Podboy, MD, of UVA Health’s Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology. “Population-based strategies aimed at identifying and rectifying possible etiologies [causes] for our findings are paramount to improving patient outcomes in early esophageal cancer.”
Read full press release in UVA Health Newsroom.