White people more likely to die from brain tumour one year after diagnosis, study finds

Researchers hope findings will help medics provide relevant and accurate information on a patient’s prognosis

Indian patients Indian 16 per cent less likely to die within 12 months, study say (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

White British people are more likely to die within 12 months of being diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour than other ethnic groups, according to a new study.

Researchers from King’s College London who looked at whether ethnicity could impact the chance of survival from a malignant brain tumour, have found that those who categorised themselves as ‘other ethnic’ were 30 percent less likely to die within one year.

The results also showed that patients from at least four other ethnic groups had a decreased risk of death when compared to white British patients.

For example, the researchers found that those from an Indian background were 16 per cent less likely to die from a cancerous brain tumour.

Hiba Wanis (MPhil), a PhD student and research assistant within the Centre for Cancer, Society & Public Health at King’s College London, UK, who presented the research, said it is too early to try to draw conclusions as to why there are different outcomes for different groups.

But researchers hope the findings will help medics provide relevant and accurate information on a patient’s prognosis, and also allow patients to understand why they could be at a higher or lower risk of survival than other groups of people.

“Brain tumours are under-researched compared to other cancers, and until now, no study has investigated the impact of a person’s ethnicity on brain tumour survival using information on patients in the whole of England,” Ms Wanis said.

“The improved and detailed cancer data captured by the National Disease Registration Service now within NHS Digital provided a good opportunity to explore the impact of varied ethnic groups on brain tumour survival for the whole of England.”

For her study, which is yet to be peer reviewed, Ms Wanis looked at data from 24,319 adult patients living in England, who had been diagnosed with a malignant primary brain tumour between 2012 and 2017, and she calculated the risk of death for white British, any other white (includes any other white and white Irish), other ethnic (includes all mixed ethnic groups and any other ethnic groups), Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, black African and black Caribbean patients, up to one year following diagnoses.

Between 2012 and 2017 a total of 13,339 white British people died from brain tumours, representing 64 per cent of these patients.

This compares with 19 people of Bangladeshi origin (63 per cent), 166 (52 per cent) of Indian origin, 533 (52 per cent) of other white origin, 95 (51 per cent) of Pakistani origin, and 280 (41.5 per cent) of other ethnic group.

“It is probably too early to speculate on what may lie behind these differences, but a number of factors may be involved," Ms Wanis added.

"These include how early people ask their doctors about symptoms, how early in the disease a diagnosis is made, better reporting, lifestyle and cultural factors, deprivation, tumour characteristics and behaviour, and treatment options.”

Ms Wanis said she is discussing with colleagues how they can investigate these factors in more detail, and how to work closely with patient representatives to collect additional data to explore survival differences further, including understanding the accuracy of death registration for patients from ethnic minority groups compared to others.

She added: “These findings inform investigations of whether death is equally well-reported between the different groups, or whether better prognostic factors are operating to improve survival.”

Michael Jenkinson, Chair of the NCRI Brain Group and Professor of Neurosurgery and Surgical Trials at the University of Liverpool, UK, who is not involved with the research, said: “This new study is not only the first to investigate the impact of ethnicity on brain tumour survival but also the first to consider the different types of brain tumours across patients in England.

"As the quantity and quality of data has significantly improved in recent years, the researchers have been able to carry out a detailed analysis, and the results help to fill in the gaps in what is currently an under-researched area of cancer. "

He added: "However, further research is needed to consider other factors that may play a role in these differences such as a patient’s lifestyle and how early they received their diagnosis. Once explored further, the findings could be vital for doctors to provide appropriate information to patients on their prognosis.”

Collaborators on this study included the National Disease Registration Service, Dr Elizabeth Davies, clinical reader and head of the Centre for Cancer, Society & Public Health at King’s College London, Professor Henrik Møller, emeritus professor of cancer epidemiology, and Professor Keyoumars Ashkan, professor of neurosurgery and lead for neuro-oncology,both at King’s College Hospital.