Disparity in governmental cancer resource allocation between East and West Texas.

e16604 Background: Disparities in outcome have been documented for medically underserved populations, including those in the rural United States. Federal programs seeking to improve care and outcomes for some underserved populations may not meet the needs of rural cancer patients. We compared demographics and cancer funding in West (rural) vs East (urban) areas of Texas. Methods: We compiled data that might reflect rural/urban disparities using geographic health services regions in Texas and reliable publically available databases. Results: Data show a disparity between East Texas (which contains several large urban areas) and the mostly frontier-designated West Texas in terms of oncology physicians, NCI-designated Cancer Centers, and cancer grant funding. The distribution of funding is not directly proportional to population density, cancer incidence, or geographic sources of revenue to governments. Conclusions: These data suggest rural West Texas populations are underserved when it comes to cancer resea...