Social Determinants of Health Influence on Survival in Wilms Tumor, Neuroblastoma, and Hepatoblastoma

Here's a tough question we don't talk about enough in pediatric oncology. How much does a child's social factors influence their chance of surviving cancer? Hi, I'm Sophia Schermerhorn, and I'm here to share a study from Cincinnati Children's that addresses this issue. They performed a retrospective study of 12,000 patients with neuroblastoma, Wilms tumor, and hepatoblastoma from the National Cancer Database. Then they made a socioeconomic Economic disadvantage score for each patient based on the median household income and education level in their local communities, and the results were pretty striking. The most disadvantaged kids were more likely to have worse survival for Wilms and neuroblastoma. And when researchers adjusted for tumor size, grade, treatment, and comorbidities, these effects were still present. The hazards ratio of 2.02 for Wilm's tumor and 1.29 for hepatoblastoma. So what does this matter? Pediatric oncology outcomes aren't just about tumor biology or treatment received. It's about the social determinants of health for these children as well. So identifying these risk factors is key if we want to close equity gaps and improve survival for all kids with solid tumors.