A study conducted by researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles found that for patients who are diagnosed with thyroid cancer, Blacks and other minorities have far more advanced cancers than Whites at the time of diagnosis. The UCLA team examined more than 26,000 cases of patients diagnosed with thyroid cancer between the years 1999 and 2008.
Avital Harari, an assistant professor of general surgery in the endocrine surgery unit at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA and the lead author of the study, stated, “Race, social status, wealth and health insurance coverage make a difference in how far a thyroid cancer has advanced by the time a patient first sees a doctor. We hope our work highlights the importance of developing interventions that will lead to equalization of care, better preventative practices and earlier treatments.”
The study, “Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Presentation and Outcomes of Well-Differentiated Thyroid Cancer,” was published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. It may be accessed here.
