Department of Integrated Oncology, Center for Integrated Oncology (CIO), University Hospital Bonn, Venusberg-Campus 1, 53127, Bonn, Germany.
Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, University Hospital Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
BMC Cancer. 2019 Oct 30;19(1):1024. doi: 10.1186/s12885-019-6241-9.
Research shows disparities in cancer outcomes by ethnicity or socio-economic status. Therefore, it is the aim of our study to perform a matched-pair analysis which compares the outcome of German and non-German (in the following described as 'foreign') cancer patients being treated at the Center for Integrated Oncology (CIO) Köln Bonn at the University Hospital of Bonn between January 2010 and June 2016.
During this time, 6314 well-documented patients received a diagnosis of cancer. Out of these patients, 219 patients with foreign nationality could be matched to German patients based on diagnostic and demographic criteria and were included in the study. All of these 438 patients were well characterized concerning survival data (Overall survival, Progression-free survival and Time to progression) and response to treatment.
No significant differences regarding the patients' survival and response rates were seen when all German and foreign patients were compared. A subgroup analysis of German and foreign patients with head and neck cancer revealed a significantly longer progression-free survival for the German patients. Differences in response to treatment could not be found in this subgroup analysis.
In summary, no major differences in survival and response rates of German and foreign cancer patients were revealed in this study. Nevertheless, the differences in progression-free survival, which could be found in the subgroup analysis of patients with head and neck cancer, should lead to further research, especially evaluating the role of infectious diseases like human papillomavirus (HPV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) on carcinogenesis and disease progression.
研究表明，癌症的结局存在种族或社会经济地位的差异。因此，我们的研究目的是进行一项配对分析，比较德国人和非德国人（以下简称“外国人”）在德国波恩大学医院综合肿瘤中心（CIO）接受治疗的癌症患者的结局。该研究的时间范围为 2010 年 1 月至 2016 年 6 月。
在此期间，6314 名有详细记录的患者被诊断为癌症。在这些患者中，根据诊断和人口统计学标准，有 219 名外国国籍的患者可以与德国患者匹配，并被纳入研究。所有这些 438 名患者的生存数据（总生存、无进展生存和进展时间）和对治疗的反应均得到很好的描述。
当比较所有德国和外国患者时，未发现患者的生存和反应率有显著差异。对德国和外国头颈部癌症患者的亚组分析显示，德国患者的无进展生存期显著延长。在该亚组分析中，未发现治疗反应的差异。
总之，本研究未发现德国和外国癌症患者的生存和反应率有显著差异。然而，在头颈部癌症患者的亚组分析中发现的无进展生存差异应导致进一步的研究，特别是评估人乳头瘤病毒（HPV）和 Epstein-Barr 病毒（EBV）等传染病在癌症发生和疾病进展中的作用。
