News Briefs – JANUARY 2023
by INELDA
Patient’s Race Influences Approach to Brain Tumors
Researchers at the University of Minnesota Medical School found that the race of a patient may influence recommendations for the removal of brain tumors. The team studied 600,000 patients over the past five decades and concluded that “Black patients were independently associated with higher odds of being recommended against surgical resection in the four most common brain tumors’” compared with White patients independent of the tumor size, patient demographics, and socioeconomic status of the patient. Other disparities in surgical recommendations were identified in Hispanic and Asian and Pacific Islanders as well, depending on tumor type. This study serves as a basis to examine unrecognized racial bias in clinical decision-making and to make recommendations to reduce this bias.
New York Legislation Permits Human Composting
According to the Associated Press, Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation on December 31, 2022, making New York the sixth state in the nation to allow natural human reduction, also known as human composting or terramation. Proponents of the process extol the environmental benefits and reduction of carbon emissions emitted in traditional cremation, known in the industry as flame-based reduction. The next step by the legislature is creating implementation regulations for the state.
Palliative Care for Metastatic GI and HPB Cancer Patients
A recent study reports that patients with metastatic hepatopancreaticobiliary (HPB) and gastrointestinal (GI) cancers receiving palliative care have fewer visits to the emergency room and hospital than patients not receiving palliative care. The four-year study showed that “patients receiving palliative care services required 38% fewer emergency department visits; they needed 56% fewer hospital admissions; and they had 71% fewer total aggregate days in the hospital prior to death.” The median survival rate was also three months longer for those receiving palliative care. Study recommendations include “encourage practitioners to refer patients with terminal HPB/GI cancer to palliative care service providers early in their end-of-life course.”