The Hispanic paradox in non-small cell lung cancer.

Abstract Introduction According to the US Census Bureau, 18% of the total population in the United States (US) identified themselves as Hispanic in 2016 making it the largest minority group. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of Hispanic ethnicity on the overall survival of patients with Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) using a large national cancer database. Methods We used the National Cancer Database to identify patients diagnosed with NSCLC between 2010-2015. The two comparative groups for this study were Non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs) and Hispanics. The primary outcome was overall survival (OS). Results Of the 555,475 patients included in the study, 96.9% and 3.1% were NHWs and Hispanics with a median follow up of 12.6 months (Interquartile range IQR 4.1-30.6) and 12.1 months (IQR 3.8-29.5), respectively. The Hispanics were more likely to be uninsured, live in areas with lower median household income or education level. In the age- sex- and comorbidities- adjusted Cox model, the overall survival was significantly better in Hispanics compared to NHWs (HR 0.92 95%CI 0.90-0.93, p Conclusions The Hispanic ethnicity was associated with better survival in NSCLC. This survival advantage is likely the result of complex interaction amongst several physical, social, cultural, genomic, and environmental factors.