Racial/ethnic and socioeconomic survival disparities for children and adolescents with central nervous system tumours in the United States, 2000–2015

Abstract Background and objectives Central nervous system (CNS) malignancy is the commonest cause of cancer death in children and adolescents (0–19 years) in high-income settings. There is limited data on survival inequalities by race/ethnicity and socioeconomic position (SEP), for young patients, we aim to analyse their influence on survival from childhood CNS tumour. Methods 9577 children and adolescents diagnosed with primary malignant CNS tumours during 2000–2015, followed up until Dec 31 st, 2015, and reported to cancer registries (Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results programme) were included in the analysis. Cox regression models estimated the hazard ratios for race/ethnicity, SEP, and individual insurance status, adjusting for sex, age, diagnostic period, and tumour type. Individual-level insurance status data were available from 2007. Results 62.5 % children and adolescents were non-Hispanic White, 10.6 % were non-Hispanic Black and 26.9 % were Hispanic. Race/ethnicity was strongly associated with survival (p  Conclusions Non-Hispanic Black and Hispanic children had lower survival than their White counterparts. This association, not fully explained by differences in SEP, tumour subtype or health insurance, could be related to racially/ethnically-driven barriers to optimal healthcare, warranting further investigation.