Skip to main content

Cancer Death Rates Higher for Children in Neighborhoods With Persistent Poverty

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on April 22, 2025.

By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, April 21, 2025 -- The risk for cancer death is higher among children diagnosed in neighborhoods marked by persistent poverty, according to a study published online April 21 in Pediatrics.

Emma Hymel, M.P.H., from the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, and colleagues used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results-22 Registries Incidence Data with Census Tract Attributes Database data to examine the association between persistent poverty and early mortality and overall cancer-specific mortality among children from 2006 to 2020.

The study included 97,132 children; 12.63 percent resided in a persistent-poverty neighborhood at diagnosis. The researchers found that living in a persistent-poverty neighborhood was associated with a higher risk for early mortality and a higher risk for overall cancer death in adjusted models (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.26 and 1.15, respectively). For children with leukemias, central nervous system tumors, and hepatic tumors, persistent poverty was associated with overall cancer mortality (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.20, 1.14, and 1.36, respectively).

"Our findings contribute to a growing body of literature on the effect of social drivers of health on pediatric cancer outcomes," the authors write. "Further research is needed to identify multilevel interventions to mitigate disparities in pediatric cancer outcomes and to examine geographic differences in these disparities."

Abstract/Full Text (subscription or payment may be required)

Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.

© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Posted April 2025

Read this next

Low Alcohol Use Disorder Treatment Rates Seen in Cancer Survivors

THURSDAY, May 29, 2025 -- For U.S. adult cancer survivors with a new alcohol use disorder (AUD) diagnosis, the one-year cumulative incidence of AUD treatment initiation was 14.3...

Total Number of Excess Deaths >14.7 Million in U.S. in 1980 to 2023

THURSDAY, May 29, 2025 -- There were 14,735,913 excess deaths in the United States during 1980 to 2023 compared with other high-income countries (HICs), according to a research...

Earlier Natural Menopause Risk Increased for Women in Socially Vulnerable Neighborhoods

THURSDAY, May 29, 2025 -- Women residing in U.S. neighborhoods with high social vulnerability have a higher risk for earlier natural menopause, according to a study published...

More news resources

Subscribe to our newsletter

Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.