Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine Target Brain Metastasis (Sociodemographic predictors of patients with brain metastases…

Managed Care Weekly Digest

Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine Target Brain Metastasis (Sociodemographic predictors of patients with brain metastases treated with stereotactic radiosurgery)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Fresh data on Brain Diseases and Conditions - Brain Metastasis are presented in a new report. According to news originating from Winston Salem, North Carolina, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, "Patient sociodemographic factors such income, race, health insurance coverage, and rural residence impact a variety of outcomes in patients with cancer. The role of brain metastasis at presentation and its subsequent outcomes have not been well characterized in this patient population."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, "Multivariate analysis revealed that median income lower than $50,000 was associated with higher presenting symptom grade for brain metastasis (mean RTOG grade 1.2 vs 1.0, SE=0.1,=0.04) and higher chronic symptom grade (mean RTOG grade 1.3 vs 0.9, SE=0.1,=0.002). Higher area-level median income was associated with a lower symptom grade at diagnosis of brain metastasis (=0.0008) and likelihood of hospitalization (=0.004). Other sociodemographic factors were not significantly associated with survival, neurologic death, or patterns of failure after stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastases. Lower median income was associated with a greater symptom burden at the time of diagnosis and need for hospitalization for patients with brain metastases, suggesting a delayed time to presentation. These differences in symptom burden persisted during treatment. Between January 2000 and December 2013, we identified 737 patients treated with stereotactic radiosurgery for brain metastases. They were characterized by 4 sociodemographic factors: median income, race, rural-urban residence, and health insurance status. Clinical outcomes included stage at diagnosis, symptom grade at presentation, likelihood of hospitalization from brain metastasis, overall survival, local failure, distant brain failure, and neurologic death."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Multivariate cox proportional hazards model for each outcome was performed controlling for age, sex, number of brain metastases, and dose to brain metastases."

For more information on this research see: Sociodemographic predictors of patients with brain metastases treated with stereotactic radiosurgery. Oncotarget, 2017;8(60):101005-101011 (see also Brain Diseases and Conditions - Brain Metastasis).

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from N. Alphonse-Sullivan, Dept. of Radiation Oncology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, United States. Additional authors for this research include G.B. Taksler, T. Lycan, K.E. Weaver, E.R. McTyre, R.F. Shenker, B.R. Page, S. Isom, A. Johnson, M.T. Munley, A.W. Laxton, S.B. Tatter, K. Watabe, M.D. Chan and J. Ruiz.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.22291. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Keywords for this news article include: Epidemiology, Winston Salem, United States, North Carolina, Brain Metastasis, Health Insurance, Health and Medicine, North and Central America, Brain Diseases and Conditions.