Yazeed Sawalha, MD, on How Socioeconomic Factors May Impact Completion of ASCT and Clinical Outcomes in MCL

CancerNetwork® spoke with Yazeed Sawalha, MD, a hematologist at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–The James, about the impact of certain socioeconomic factors on the completion of autologous stem cell transplant (ASCT) and clinical outcomes in patients with mantle cell lymphoma.

According to Sawalha, factors such as insurance type, treatment facility, and location were associated with chances of completing ASCT, and education and race impacted survival outcomes.

Transcript:

We looked at the impact of demographics and socioeconomic factors on the use of ASCT, but also on clinical outcomes—specifically overall survival. We found that after adjusting for other factors, the type of insurance and specifically having private insurance rather than Medicare, as well as receiving treatment at an academic or research facility, and certain geographical locations are actually associated with higher chances of undergoing ASCT.

In terms of clinical outcomes and survival, we found that the type of insurance was also important here. In addition, higher education and income levels were also associated with superior survival, whereas Black race was associated with inferior survival.

Reference

Sawalha Y, Radivoyevitch T, Jia X, et al. The impact of socioeconomic disparities on the use of upfront autologous stem cell transplantation for mantle cell lymphoma. Leukemia & Lymphoma. Published online September 15, 2021. doi:10.1080/10428194.2021.1978085