Disparities in Survival and NCCN Guideline–Concordant Care in Patients With Extremity Soft Tissue Sarcoma

Abstract

Background: Based on the NCCN Guidelines for Soft Tissue Sarcoma (STS), treatment of extremity STS (ESTS) includes radiation therapy (RT) and surgical resection for tumors that are high-grade and >5 cm. ​​The aim of this study was to describe the association between neighborhood socioeconomic status (nSES), concordance with NCCN Guidelines recommendations, and outcomes in patients with ESTS. Methods: Patients with ESTS diagnosed from 2006 through 2018 were identified in SEER registries. The analytic cohort was restricted to patients with high-grade tumors >5 cm without nodal or distant metastases who received limb-sparing surgery. Patient demographics and tumor characteristics associated with receipt of RT were analyzed using adjusted regression analyses. Kaplan-Meier curves and adjusted accelerated failure time models were used to examine disparities in cancer-specific survival. Results: Of 2,249 patients, 29.0% (n=648) received neoadjuvant RT, 49.7% (n=1,111) received adjuvant or intraoperative RT, and 21.3% (n=476) did not receive RT. In adjusted analyses, lower nSES was associated with lower likelihood of receiving RT (odds ratio, 0.70 [95% CI, 0.57–0.87]; P<.001). Low nSES was associated with worse cancer-specific survival (hazard ratio, 1.19 [95% CI, 1.01–1.40]; P=.04). Race and ethnicity were not significant predictors of receipt of RT or cancer-specific survival in the fully adjusted models. Conclusions: Patients from lower nSES areas were less likely to receive NCCN Guideline–recommended RT for their ESTS and had worse cancer-specific survival. Efforts to better define and resolve disparities in the treatment and survival of patients with ESTS are warranted.