Colon cancer survival in California from 2004 to 2011 by stage at diagnosis, sex, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

BACKGROUND:Disparities in cancer survival exist between groups. This study aims to examine these disparities in stage-, sex-, race/ethnicity-, and socioeconomic-specific colon cancer net survival in California for adults diagnosed between 2004 and 2011. METHODS:We estimated age-standardized net survival using the Pohar Perme estimator for colon cancer by stage at diagnosis (localized, regional, and distant), sex, race/ethnicity (Non-Hispanic White, Non-Hispanic Black, and Hispanic), and socioeconomic status (SES). Data from the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database on adults diagnosed with malignant colon cancer during 2004-2011 in California were included (n = 78,285). County-level SES was approximated using quintile groupings based on the Federal Poverty Level. RESULTS:Five-year survival for all included adults was 66.0 % (95 % CI: 65.6 %-66.4 %). The difference between Non-Hispanic White (White) adults and Non-Hispanic Black (Black) adults was 9.3 %, and between White adults and Hispanic adults was 3.4 %. A higher proportion of Black (24.5 %) and Hispanic (21.4 %) adults were diagnosed with distant disease compared to White adults (19.4 %). Differences in sex-specific survival were minimal, with only differences between Hispanic men (62.0 % [60.5 %-63.4 %]) and women (65.9 % [64.4 %-67.3 %]). SES differences were largest between the lowest quintile 63.0 % (62.3 %-65.2 %) and the highest quintile 67.8 % (66.8 %-68.8 %). SES-, stage-, and race/ethnicity-stratified analysis demonstrated improving trends for White adults with localized and regional disease, and Hispanic adults with regional disease. CONCLUSION:Colon cancer survival in California is lower for Black and Hispanic adults than for White adults in all three categories: stage, sex, and SES, suggesting the need for improved health policy for Hispanic and Black adults.