Dr. Kahn on Next Steps on Examining Racial Disparities in GI Cancer

Sajid A Khan MD, FACS, FSSO, associate professor of Surgery (Oncology), Yale School of Medicine, section chief, Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary and Mixed Tumors, co-director, Team Science, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation, Yale Cancer Center, discusses next steps in examining racial disparities in gastrointestinal (GI) tract cancer.

A retrospective cohort examination of patients was conducted to study racial disparities in quality of care of patients with GI tract cancers, leading to additional questions as to why treatment outcomes vary, Kahn says. Investigators will next explore factors behind treatment disparities by examining granular data at the hospital level, Khan adds. Based on the findings of the cohort examination, it is important to investigate if biases from the clinicians play a role in outcomes, Khan explains.

Investigators will also examine if surgical and pathological care for patients differs between hospitals, which could account for some of the treatment disparities, Kahn concludes.