Sociodemographic and Socioeconomic Factors Correlate with Late-Stage Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma and Rhabdomyosarcoma: A Report from the Children’s Oncology Group Registries

Ou JY, Kaddas HK, Alonzo TA, Spector LG, Fallahazad N, Owens E, Collin LJ, Green AL, Kirchhoff AC. Sociodemographic and Socioeconomic Factors Correlate with Late-Stage Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma and Rhabdomyosarcoma: A Report from the Children’s Oncology Group Registries. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2024 Oct 2;33(10):1327-1338. doi: 10.1158/1055-9965.EPI-24-0510. PMID: 39083086; PMCID: PMC11446656.

We examined association between late stage diagnosis and individual- and community-level characteristics among pediatric Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) patients. We obtained Children’s Oncology Group (COG) data from 1999–2021 including summary stage (local (L), regional (R), distant (D)), tumor subtype, demographics, and ZIP code at diagnosis. We linked ZIP codes to county-level redlining scores (C,D=greatest redlining), Child Opportunity Index (COI), and measures of segregation (racial dissimilarity indices (DI)). Logistic regressions calculated odds ratios for late stage diagnosis, and by race within tumor subtype.