Racial Disparities Persist in Curative Treatment for Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

TUESDAY, March 10, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Racial disparities persist in receipt of curative treatment for early-stage non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), according to a study published online March 2 in JAMA Network Open.Olivia F. Lynch, M.D., from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, and colleagues used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Medicare-linked data (2005 to 2019) to examine trends in racial disparities in the receipt of curative treatment for early-stage NSCLC. The analysis included 28,287 non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic White patients (aged 66 to 85 years) who received a diagnosis of stage I or II NSCLC.The researchers found that overall, 82.3 percent of patients received curative treatment. Adjusted probabilities of receiving curative treatment were significantly lower for Black patients compared with White patients in each time period (2005 to 2007: 73.9 percent of Black patients and 83.3 percent of White patients; 2011 to 2013: 76.3 and 85.2 percent; and 2017 to 2019: 78.4 and 86.8 percent). These disparities were associated primarily with surgical treatment across time (2005 to 2007: 52.3 percent of Black patients and 65.9 percent of White patients; 2011 to 2013: 48.3 and 61.0 percent; and 2015 to 2017: 43.7 and 53.1 percent). There was a sharp increase in stereotactic body radiotherapy use, with disparities seen only from 2011 to 2013 (39.6 of Black patients and 51.6 percent of White patients)."If you’re developing cures for cancer, but it’s not getting into the hands of everybody who needs it, then you haven’t succeeded," Lynch said in a statement. "The next step has to ask why -- and what we’re going to do differently."Several authors disclosed ties to the biopharmaceutical industry.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Racial Disparities Persist in Curative Treatment for Early-Stage Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

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