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Disparities Identified in Leukemia Incidence, Mortality in Florida

Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm. Last updated on March 25, 2025.

By Lori Solomon HealthDay Reporter

TUESDAY, March 25, 2025 -- There are racial and geographic disparities in the incidence of and mortality from adult leukemia in Florida, where the incidence of leukemia is the highest in the United States, according to a study published online Feb. 16 in Blood Neoplasia.

Ming S. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., from the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, and colleagues used geocoded cancer data from the Florida Cancer Data System and population data from the U.S. census from 2010 to 2019 to examine socioeconomic and regional disparities associated with adult leukemia in the state of Florida.

The researchers found that leukemia disparities by race/ethnicity and rurality existed in Florida. The highest incidence rates for most subtypes of leukemia were seen among the non-Hispanic White population, while the non-Hispanic Black population had the highest odds of dying from leukemia. Higher odds of leukemia-related mortality were also seen among rural counties and urban neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status. There was a mismatch between leukemia-treating physician numbers and the locations where patients with leukemia showed higher incidence and mortality odds.

"Florida demographically looks like what the entire U.S. population may be in the future and is therefore an indicator of the coming needs in the U.S. for increased leukemia diagnosis, treatment and survivorship care," the authors write. "Larger national and international studies can build on this study by applying our methodology on a larger scale and can also be applied to other hematologic malignancies and other cancer types."

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Posted March 2025

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