Assessing Disparities in Lung Cancer Incidence for Gender Minority Individuals Using California Cancer Registry Data

Abstract

Gender minority individuals (GMIs) face unique challenges in cancer diagnosis and care. 1,2 Disproportionate burden of lung cancer is expected among GMIs because of their high smoking rate and known disparities in cancer screening. 3 However, population-based cancer registry data have not been fully used in assessing the cancer disparities among GMIs, 1 even though population-based cancer registries do collect sex information beyond male and female. 4 We found one previous study using national cancer surveillance data that identified lung cancer as the most common cancer for transgender indivduals. 5 We hypothesized that the vulnerable GMIs may be subject to identifiable disparities in lung cancer care and outcomes. To test this hypothesis, we used the population-based Californian Cancer Registry (CCR) database to examine lung cancer incidence records. Our primary goal was to identify disparities in case distributions between gender minority and majority lung cancer patients along the cancer care spectrum.

Health inequities across the lung cancer care continuum in ten marginalized populations: a narrative review

“…In one study, males who self-identified as gay/lesbian and who had no medical cost burden had higher odds of receiving lung cancer screening, whereas being bisexual was associated with a lower likelihood of screening, suggesting there are sexual-identity disparities in utilizing lung cancer screening ( 94 ). After diagnosis, treatment options for gender minority individuals appeared to have similar proportions of surgical, chemotherapy, and radiation therapies as gender majority ( 95 ). Additionally, one study highlighted that LGB survivors are more likely to participate in cancer clinical trials than heterosexual survivors, but the data were not stratified by cancer type ( 96 ).…”