Treatment and survival outcomes for Medicaid patients with pancreatic, colon-rectosigmoid, and liver cancers at a national comprehensive cancer center.

Authors

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Andrea M. Schiefelbein

Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI

Andrea M. Schiefelbein , Amy K. Taylor , John K. Krebsbach , Patrick Varley , John M. Hampton , Amy Trentham-Dietz , Melissa C. Skala , John M. Eason , Noelle K. LoConte

Organizations

Morgridge Institute for Research, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Medicine, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Surgery, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin Carbone Cancer Center, Madison, WI, University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Sociology, Madison, WI

Research Funding

U.S. National Institutes of Health
U.S. National Institutes of Health, University of Wisconsin Pancreatic Cancer Task Force

Background: Treatment and survival disparities faced by Medicaid patients are documented for pancreatic, colon-rectosigmoid, and liver cancers at a national level. Studies show these disparities persist at academic medical centers. We assessed Medicaid treatment and survival outcomes among University of Wisconsin-Health (UWH) pancreatic, colon-rectosigmoid, and liver cancer patients to determine whether national trends persisted at this academic medical center. Methods: We included UWH registry data for 1567 pancreatic, 2313 colon-rectosigmoid, and 1027 liver cancer patients ages 18+ from 2004-2016. We performed multivariable logistic regression to estimate odds ratios (ORs) to assess insurance disparities in intended resection and Cox Proportional regression to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) to assess all-cause mortality disparities for each cancer, adjusting for age, sex, race/ethnicity, BMI, comorbidity, stage, rurality, and insurance. Results: Median overall survival was 6.5 months (range 0.1-147.5) for pancreatic, 12.8 months (0.1-167.5) for colon-rectosigmoid, and 12.5 months (0.1-168.7) for liver cancer patients. 3% of pancreatic, 5% of colon-rectosigmoid, and 9% of liver cancer patients had Medicaid Insurance. Medicaid patients were less likely to be older and non-Hispanic White than private insurance (private) patients for each cancer. Medicaid patients were diagnosed with more distant disease for colon-rectosigmoid and liver cancers and less distant disease for pancreatic cancer. Medicaid patients were less likely to receive surgery vs private patients for pancreatic (OR 0.41, 95% CI 0.16-1.08) and liver (OR 0.62, 0.26-1.49) cancers, though confidence intervals were wide. Insurance was not associated with surgery in colon-rectosigmoid cancer patients (OR 0.97, 0.48-1.97). Medicaid patients had a higher risk of death vs private patients for colon rectosigmoid cancer (HR 1.50, 1.12-2.01). Risk of death was modestly elevated for Medicaid vs private patients for pancreatic (HR 1.35, 0.97-1.87) but not liver (HR 1.07, 0.77-1.48) cancer. Conclusions: Medicaid pancreatic and liver cancer patients may be less likely to receive surgery than private patients in our one center study. Results suggested that Medicaid pancreatic and colon-rectosigmoid cancer patients may have a slightly elevated risk of death vs private patients, though this needs confirmation in larger samples. Future studies should explore at which local, state, and regional levels Medicaid pancreatic, colon-rectosigmoid, and liver cancer patients experience treatment and survival disparities vs private insurance patients. These studies, combined with Medicaid expansion studies, can guide healthcare leaders and policy makers to design context-appropriate interventions to reduce insurance-related disparities in cancer treatment and outcomes.

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Abstract Details

Meeting

2021 ASCO Annual Meeting

Session Type

Publication Only

Session Title

Publication Only: Health Services Research and Quality Improvement

Track

Quality Care/Health Services Research

Sub Track

Access to Care

Citation

J Clin Oncol 39, 2021 (suppl 15; abstr e18524)

DOI

10.1200/JCO.2021.39.15_suppl.e18524

Abstract #

e18524

Abstract Disclosures

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