INFLUENCE OF SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS ON PROGNOSIS OF COLORECTAL-CANCER -A POPULATION-BASED STUDY IN COTE-DOR, FRANCE

Background. The prognostic significance of the socioeconomic status of patients treated for colorectal cancer, although stated in some studi es, remains controversial. Methods. The authors studied a population-b ased series of 771 patients with colorectal cancer diagnosed in Cote D 'Or, France, between january 1976 and December 1980. Survival was stud ied for the first 5 years after diagnosis. The relationship between so cioeconomic status, assessed by comfort of housing, and the main clini cal prognostic factors was examined. The influence of comfort of housi ng on prognosis was studied with the Cox model, while controlling for these factors. Interactions between type of housing and other prognost ic factors also were tested. Results. Compared with patients living in a comfortable house, patients in the medium or no-comfort categories were more likely to receive diagnosis at an advanced stage (P = 0.03) and be treated by palliative therapy (P = 0.0005). After adjustment fo r these factors and age, sex, place of residence, and tumor site, pati ents living in no comfort had a twofold higher risk of dying during th e follow-up period compared with patients living in comfortable housin g, with the relative risk being 1.5 for the medium comfort category (9 5% confidence intervals, 1.3-3.2 and 1.2-1.7, respectively). This effe ct was more remarkable in patients with early-stage tumors than in pat ients with advanced tumors. Conclusions. Such findings should prompt p ublic health measures for earlier access to care structures for people in a lower social class and research for a better understanding of th e host-tumor relationship.