To investigate whether measurable differences in overall survival (OS) or cancer-specific survival (CSS) exist by race for veterans with cancer managed through the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).
Approach:
Systematic Review: A systematic review of scientific articles published in PubMed was performed, focusing on peer-reviewed articles from January 2015 to April 2022 that reported survival measurements by race for veterans with cancer receiving care through VHA.
Data Analysis: Meta-analysis was conducted to estimate pooled hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for OS and CSS, comparing Black veterans with White and non-Black veterans.
Key Findings:
The review identified 39 articles eligible for analysis, encompassing outcomes for 603,261 veterans with cancer. Most studies were retrospective cohort studies of veterans treated across the VHA.
Interpretation:
Limitations:
The analysis relied solely on publicly available data and may not capture all relevant studies.
Variability in definitions of racial categories across studies may affect the results.
by Alyssa Jasmine Bullard, Haley I. Tupper, Kevin Su, Lin Gu, Luca F. Valle, Isla P. Garraway, Donna L. Washington, Chloe E. Bird, Robert A. Winn, Stephen J. Freedland, Christina D. Williams, Drew Moghanaki
