Researchers found that African Americans with leukemia die faster than Caucasians, despite both receiving equal health care.

Previous studies have established that certain cancers act more aggressively in minority patients, with worse outcomes. Researchers assumed that lower socioeconomic status and limited access to high-quality care among minority patients could be one of the reasons behind this but a new study proves otherwise.  

The study conducted by researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and the Duke University Medical Center in Durham found that among leukemia (blood cancer) patients,  African Americans have shorter survival times than Caucasians, despite both groups receiving equal health care.

For the research, 84 African American patients and 1,571 non-black patients were studied. Both groups received the same treatment and had access to similar health care facilities in order to eliminate race as a prognostic factor.

Researchers found that while the time from diagnosis to referral among African American patients was shorter, this group reported more advanced chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) at the time of referral. Also, though African American patients responded as well as Caucasians to first-line therapy, their cancer grew aggressively and they had a shorter survival time. Similar results were obtained when blood cancer patients were grouped according to the severity of their ailment.

"These findings suggest that while inducing similarly high response rates, standard treatments do not overcome racial differences in outcome among patients with CLL," said Dr. Alesandra Ferrajoli, associate professor at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in a press statement.

Further studies need to be conducted to determine the cause of this as scientists remain unclear about the aggressive growth of cancers in minority patients.