COLUMBUS – A new study suggests the impact of racism, social isolation and poverty are better predictors than genetics of whether a patient will complete cancer treatment and survive the illness.
Doctors at The Ohio State University say chronic physiologic “wear and tear” from stress – known as allostatic load – can arise from environmental conditions common among racial and ethnic minorities and have a detrimental outcome on their health, according to an OSU press release.
The findings were presented at the 14th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, held online Oct. 6-8.
Elevated allostatic load has been associated with various health problems, such as high blood pressure, increased body mass index, kidney disease, inflammation, arthritis and other conditions.
“Patient behavior and clinical outcomes cannot be isolated from the effects of their social environment,” said Dr. Obeng-Gyasi, a surgical oncologist and member of the Translational Therapeutics Research Program at the OSUCCC - James. “Allostatic load provides us with a way to evaluate the effects of social and environmental stressors on a patient’s physiology.”
Researchers analyzed data from a clinical trial that collected data from breast cancer patients, the release said. After adjusting for genetic ancestry, doctors found that each one-unit increase in allostatic load score was associated with a 15% reduction in the likelihood of completing chemotherapy and a 14% increase in the risk of death.
“These results suggest that long-term exposure to chronic social and environmental stress may contribute to poor outcomes in patients with breast cancer,” Obeng-Gyasi said.
