CANCER-PATIENT SURVIVAL BY SOCIOECONOMIC-STATUS IN THE NETHERLANDS - A REVIEW FOR 6 COMMON CANCER SITES

Study objective - To study the size and consistency of socioeconomic d ifferences in cancer patient survival as reported in published studies . Methods - A systematic review was conducted. Several criteria were d eveloped to select the study material, which resulted in 14 reports on socioeconomic differences in survival for cancers of the colon, rectu m, lung, prostate, breast, and cervix. These present results on patien ts from the United States, Japan, Australia, United Kingdom, Sweden, F inland, and Germany. The results are summarised in a relative risk of dying or survival ratio for the lowest socioeconomic status group comp ared with the highest. Results - For cancers of the colon, rectum, bre ast, and cervix, patients from higher socioeconomic status groups had a better survival. For lung cancer and cancer of the prostate, results were unclear. Conclusion - Socioeconomic differences in cancer surviv al are generally small and their contribution to socioeconomic differe nces in cancer mortality is probably small tea. These findings have im plications for the type of health policy measures which should be take n to reduce socioeconomic differences in cancer mortality.