Black and white GI survival rates closing

MIAMI, July 16 (UPI) -- Survival rate racial differences for gastrointestinal tumors are narrowing between African-Americans and whites, U.S. researchers said.

The study, published in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons, found in the case of a rare cancer that begins in the wall of the gastrointestinal tract known as a gastrointestinal stromal tumor, the 30-day surgical mortality rate which was higher in African-Americans prior to the year 2000 has become equivalent in the last 10 years.

"Over the last decade, racial gaps in the treatment of gastrointestinal tract appeared to have closed," lead author Dr. Michael Cheung of the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine said in a statement. "Both perioperative and long-term survival have improved among African-Americans."

The study authors conclude that decreased perioperative mortality -- that is, mortality for all phases of surgery from pre-operative to post-operative -- as well as increased surgical resection rates and improved long-term survival have appeared to erase racial disparities in the treatment of gastrointestinal stromal tumor.

The study, based on the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, looked at at total of 3,795 patients with intestinal mesenchymal tumors from 1992-2005. Eighty-eight percent of the tumors were gastrointestinal stromal tumors.