Inequities by insurance status and type often overburden Black and Hispanic Hodgkin lymphoma survivors. In addition, while Hodgkin lymphoma tends to be associated with an excellent survival, significant disparities in survival rates are also seen among racially and ethnically minoritized patients in the United States.
A three-year, $741,832 grant from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s (LLS) Equity in Access Research Program will allow a team of University of Florida (UF) researchers to better understand the relationships between these disparities. Led by Co-principal Investigators Raymond B. Mailhot, MD, MPH (right), Associate Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at the UF College of Medicine, and Erin M. Mobley, PhD, MPH, Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville, the team will leverage the grant in support of their novel study, “Insurance Inequities in Hodgkin Lymphoma Treatment and Survivorship in the Southeast.”
Utilizing data from the One Florida+ Clinical Research Network, the investigators will access a large sample of people diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. The team will examine the role of insurance in initial treatment and relapse, receipt and quality of survivorship care, and patient decision-making experiences through interviews with survivors.
“Most patients with Hodgkin lymphoma should live long, fruitful lives due to advances in treatment and supportive care,” said Mailhot. “We want to provide tailored, personalized treatment and survivorship care approaches to all of those diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, but we know that there are significant disparities by insurance coverage and type.”
“This study will allow us to understand what could be driving some of these differences, especially among those from historically marginalized and understudied groups in the Southeast,” said Mobley. “Our ultimate goal is to inform public policy reform at the local, state, and federal levels.”
“This innovative research has important policy implications for expanding access to high-quality treatment and survivorship care for patients with Hodgkin lymphoma, especially those from racially and ethnically minoritized groups,” said Eric Cooks, PhD, Senior Director, Equity in Access Research Program, LLS.
The study’s Co-Investigators include Carla L. Fisher, PhD, Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, UF College of Medicine; Amy Crisp, PhD, Center for Data Solutions, UF College of Medicine – Jacksonville; Yi Guo, PhD, Department of Health Outcomes and Biomedical Informatics, UF College of Medicine; and Sharon Castellino, MD, MSc, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University College of Medicine.
Drs. Mailhot, Mobley, Fisher, and Guo are members of the UF Health Cancer Center’s Cancer Control and Population Sciences Research Program (CCPS), which works to reduce the cancer burden in the UF Health Cancer Center’s catchment area and beyond.
For more information about The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Equity in Access Research Program, visit the LLS website.
