Some patients with cancer may delay treatment due to racial, cultural, gender and age differences between them and their healthcare providers, according to a Johns Hopkins' Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center study published in JAMA Oncology.
The study showed a "small but statistically significant proportion" of cancer patients, particularly younger and lower-income minorities, disproportionately reported delaying care clinician/patient differences, an April 20 hospital news release said.
The study, published March 30, analyzed data from the National Institutes of Health's All of Us Research Program. Researchers' findings confirm the need to prioritize oncology workforce diversification, said senior author S.M. Qasim Hussaini, MD, chief medical oncology fellow at the Baltimore-based cancer center.