Surviving cancer depends on the place of residence

In socio-economically poorer regions a worsened chance of survival in cancer

02/01/2014

According to a study of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the chance of survival in the case of cancer depends on the place of residence of the patient within Germany. In some regions, people with a cancer diagnosis appear to die sooner than elsewhere. This applies according to the experts for all types of cancer alike.

Richer region lowers mortality
Those who want to survive a cancer diagnosis must in most cases undergo serious interventions and therapies. But unfortunately, it does not mean that the chances of survival within Germany are about good or bad. An evaluation by the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg came to the conclusion that people in economically less well-off areas have less good chances of recovery than in richer regions. „This is especially true for the first three months after the cancer diagnosis“, so the doctors. To conduct the study, around one million patient data were evaluated by people with cancer.

Other research has shown that patients with higher incomes and status have better chances of recovery than cancer patients who come from poorer backgrounds. For Germany, however, there were no meaningful studies in this direction. At the DKFZ, scientists working with Professor Hermann Brenner investigated this question in detail for the first time. But now the scientists evaluated the data sets of ten of the 16 German state cancer registries. The researchers focused on the top 25 most common cancers that occurred in about one million people between 1997 and 2006. The individual districts were then examined for the average income situation. The key factors in the socio-economic evaluation were the average per capita income, the unemployment rate and the municipal income and expenditure balance sheets. In the result: „Patients from the socioeconomically weakest fifth of the counties died significantly earlier than their cancer patients from the other regions“.

One third less chance of survival
According to the research team, the difference was most noticeable during the first three months after the fateful diagnosis was made. Compared to the most common types of cancer, patients from the poorer regions had a 33 percent decrease in survival. At about nine months after the cancer diagnosis, the difference was still at 20 percent. And after four years, people from richer regions survived 16 percent more.

However, the study did not explain why this is so. According to the experts, the results do not necessarily suggest that the individual situation of the patient is responsible for this. Rather, much indicates that the characteristics of each region is responsible. In weaker regions, for example, exposed cancer treatment clinics may be more difficult to reach, or there may simply be fewer places in the centers.

Reasons not yet sufficiently confirmed
The first assumption that people in socio-economically disadvantaged regions perceive precautionary offers on average less was not confirmed in the course of the study. It could have been that the cancer was detected only at a late stage and therefore the chance of survival is lower. „But that's not it: the differences in survival persist if we consider the staging in the evaluation“ , writes Lina Jansen, author of the study.

„It is urgent that we find out the cause of the increased mortality among patients from socio-economically weaker regions“, warned Professor Otmar D. Wiestler, Chairman of the Board of the German Cancer Research Center. „Only if we know the reasons, we can specifically do something to ensure that all cancer patients in Germany have the same opportunity.“ The German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) is the largest biomedical research institution in Germany with more than 2,500 employees. More than 1,000 scientists at DKFZ are researching how cancer develops, recording cancer risk factors and looking for new strategies to prevent people from getting cancer. (Sb)