WHITE BRITONS with tumours are more likely to die within a year than people from other ethnic backgrounds, a study has found.
Data of more than 24,000 adult patients in England, with malignant primary brain tumour diagnosed between 2012 and 2017 - was seen by researchers from King's College London.
When compared with patients of white British ethnicity, people of Indian origin were 16 per cent less likely to die within a year. Those whose ethnicity was recorded as "other white" were 17 per cent less likely to die, and those categorised as "other ethnic" were 30 per cent less likely to die.
For those whose ethnicity was unknown, the risk was 19 per cent less.
“It is probably too early to speculate on what may lie behind these differences, but a number of factors may be involved," Hiba Wanis, a PhD student and research assistant in the Centre for Cancer, Society & Public Health at King’s College London, who presented the research at the National Cancer Research Institute Festival, said.
She added: “These include how early people ask about symptoms, how early a diagnosis is made, better reporting, lifestyle and cultural factors, deprivation, tumour characteristics and behaviour, and treatment options.”
The study was the first of its kind to look at the effect of ethnicity on brain tumour survival.
Wanis said: “Brain tumours are under-researched compared to other cancers, and until now no study has investigated the impact of ethnicity on brain tumour survival using information on patients in the whole of England.”
She praised the improved data capture by the National Disease Registration Service and said: “These findings inform investigations of whether death is equally well-reported between the different groups, or whether better prognostic factors are operating to improve survival.”
She said her research had been made possible by improved and detailed data captured by the National Disease Registration Service, adding: “These findings inform investigations of whether death is equally well-reported between the different groups, or whether better prognostic factors are operating to improve survival.”
Michael Jenkinson, chairman of the NCRI Brain Group and professor of neurosurgery and surgical trials at the University of Liverpool, who was not involved with the research, said: “This new study is not only the first to investigate the impact of ethnicity on brain tumour survival but also the first to consider the different types of brain tumours across patients in England. As the quantity and quality of data has significantly improved in recent years, the researchers have been able to carry out a detailed analysis, and the results help to fill in the gaps in what is currently an under-researched area of cancer.
“However, further research is needed to consider other factors that may play a role in these differences, such as, a patient’s lifestyle and how early they received their diagnosis. Once explored further the findings could be vital for doctors to provide appropriate information to patients on their prognosis.”
Damian Talbot