Men living in wealthier zip codes in the United States live longer with advanced prostate cancer than men in lower income zip codes. Creighton University, Omaha, NE researchers studied income levels and overall survival of men diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer. Lead author Sabra Ahmed and his team looked at 50,639 men in the National Cancer Database diagnosed with stage IV prostate cancer between 2004-2011 . Income was evaluated using the median income of the patient’s zip code. Ahmed’s abstract is being presented at the ASCO GU conference this weekend (Impact of income in stage IV prostate cancer. abstract #244)
His conclusions: “Compared to patients with a median income < $38,000, patients in zip codes with a median income > $63,000 had a median survival nearly 15 months longer, had 10% more patients alive after 5 years, and had fewer co-morbidities.”
| Median Income | Median Survival (Months)* | Patients Alive After 5 years (%)* | Patients Alive after 10 Years (%)* |
|---|---|---|---|
| <$38,000 | 31.6 | 31 | 16 |
| $38,000-$47,999 | 35.3 | 34 | 17 |
| $48,000-$62,999 | 38.4 | 37 | 18 |
| ?$63,000 | 46.1 | 41 | 25 |
from the abstract.
Leave A Comment