Goldberg and Sussman Dissect Disparities in Gastric Cancer Mortality Rates

Welcome to OncLive On Air^®! I’m your host today, Chris Ryan.

OncLive On Air^® is a podcast from OncLive^®, which provides oncology professionals with the resources and information they need to provide the best patient care. In both digital and print formats, OncLive^® covers every angle of oncology practice, from new technology to treatment advances to important regulatory decisions.

In today’s episode, we had the pleasure of speaking with David Goldberg, MD, an associate professor of medicine in the Division of Digestive Health and Liver Diseases at the Miller School of Medicine at the University of Miami, and Daniel Sussman, MD, an associate professor of clinical medicine at the Miller School of Medicine and a researcher at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, to discuss research on above-average rates of mortality from gastric cancer in South Florida.

Faculty from Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center collaborated with gastroenterologists, epidemiologists, and oncologists to study gastrointestinal deaths by county in the United States to identify factors associated with differences in mortality and potential ways to reduce disparities in different areas.

The research demonstrated that the counties with the highest 5% of mortality rates for gastric, pancreatic, and colorectal cancer were primarily in the Southeastern portion of the United States. Researchers pointed to smoking and living in rural areas as the factors most closely linked with gastrointestinal cancer–related mortality.

Regarding the high rates of mortality for gastric cancer in South Florida, a higher prevalence of a bacteria called Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), which is more common in parts of the world such as South America, could contribute to the disparities in outcomes seen in the area.

In our exclusive interview, Drs Goldberg and Sussman discussed the key findings from their research on rates of gastrointestinal mortality, the factors that could contribute to these differences, and ways these disparities can be addressed.

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