Racial/ethnic disparities in all-cause and cause-specific death among children with malignant central nervous system tumours: a registry-based cohort retrospective analysisResearch in context

Summary: Background: It is generally recognized that there is unequal mortality in childhood central nervous system (CNS) malignancy in the United States (US), but little is known about the trends and contributors of racial/ethnic disparities in death. We assessed the trends of racial/ethnic disparities in all-cause and cause-specific death, and the contributions of tumour, treatment and socioeconomic factors to this disparity. Methods: This registry-based cohort study included children (aged ≤19 years) diagnosed with malignant CNS tumours, using data from the US population-based cancer registry in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program. The clinical outcomes were all-cause and cause-specific death for each racial/ethnic group (White, Black, Hispanic, non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander [API], and non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native [AI/AN] children). We quantified absolute disparities using absolute rate difference in 5-year cumulative incidence of death. Cox proportion risk models were used to estimate the relative racial/ethnic disparities, and the contribution of factors to disparities in death. Findings: In this study, data from 14,510 children with malignant CNS tumours (mean [SD] age, 8.5 [5.7]; 7988 [55.1%] male) were analysed. Overall, the cumulative incidence of death from CNS tumours across four racial/ethnic groups decreased from 2001 to 2020. Black patients had the highest risk of death from all causes and CNS tumours between 2001 and 2020, with adjusted hazard ratios (HR) of 1.52 (1.38–1.68) and 1.47 (1.31–1.64), respectively. The absolute disparity in all-cause death between Hispanic and White patients increased slightly (from 8.2 percentage points [ppt] to 9.4 ppt), and the relative disparity in death from CNS tumours increased from 1.33 (1.15–1.55) in 2001–2005 to 1.78 (1.44–2.20) in 2016–2020. The absolute disparities in death from CNS tumours between Black and White patients (from 11.8 ppt to 4.3 ppt) and between API and White patients (from 10.1 ppt to 5.1 ppt) decreased from 2001–2005 to 2011–2015. Interpretation: Race/ethnicity disparities in death from CNS tumours among childhood malignant CNS tumours had reduced from 2001 to 2020, and quantifying the contribution of factors to this disparity in death could provide a basis for decreasing mortality among racial/ethnic minority patients. Funding: Shenyang Young and Middle-aged Science and Technology Innovation Talent Support Program.