HSCT volumes and survival among racial/ethnic minorities
Khera N, Ailawadhi S, Brazauskas R, et al. Trends in Volumes and Survival After Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation in Racial/Ethnic Minorities. Blood Advances. 2024; (doi: 10.1182/bloodadvances.2023012469).
Although research suggests more non-White patients are undergoing and surviving hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), outcome disparities persist. As part of an observational study, investigators analyzed trends within a sample of 79,904 autologous HCT (auto-HCT) procedures and 65,552 allogeneic HCT (allo-HCT) procedures that took place during 2009-2018. Over five 2-year time periods, the data showed that growth in the number of allo-HCTs and auto-HCTs among Hispanics and Non-Hispanic African Americans markedly outpaced the rate of increase among Non-Hispanic Whites. Overall survival improved for all racial/ ethnic groups, although the risk of death was greater for Non-Hispanic African Americans (HR 1.13; 95% CI 1.04-1.22; p=0.004) than for Non-Hispanic Whites — a finding that was true only in the case of allo-HCT, not auto-HCT. More work is needed to mitigate disparities for patients undergoing allo-HCT, the study authors concluded.