Geomapping reveals environmental influence
Annual Report 2012 : An inquiring mind
Neighborhood characteristics may affect outcomes
Curiosity has led Lorraine Reitzel, Ph.D., to ask novel questions.
Seann Regan, a geographic information system analyst, works with colleague Lorraine Reitzel, Ph.D., assistant professor in the Department of Health Disparities Research, to understand the impact of neighborhood characteristics on people's health. Photo: Wyatt McSpadden
Her recent paper posed the query: Does a cancer patient’s neighborhood have an effect on his or her survival or development of a second primary malignancy?
Reitzel, assistant professor in MD Anderson’s Department of Health Disparities Research, studied 1,151 head and neck squamous cell carcinoma patients who lived in Texas and Louisiana and came to MD Anderson for treatment from 1996 to 2009.
With the help of geographic information system technology and census data, Reitzel found that patients with oropharyngeal cancer (cancers in the middle part of the throat) — and who lived in neighborhoods with a high level of socioeconomic deprivation — had an increased risk for negative clinical outcomes. This was regardless of patients’ personal income levels.
“If the treatment team knows a patient comes from a socioeconomically deprived area and is at higher risk, they can help that patient stay connected with MD Anderson resources after returning home,” Reitzel says. “Knowing more about where a person lives can signal the need for more comprehensive recommendations and follow-up to prevent the development of second primary malignancies and increase overall survival.
“Our next step is to do more research and determine what it is about these areas that contributes to negative clinical outcomes so we can better help these patients.”
More Stories From Annual Report
Doubling down on doctoral nursing degrees
Melissa McLenon, D.N.P., has been committed to her patients throughout her 20-year nursing career.
Vaccines hold promise for breast cancer patients
Elizabeth Mittendorf, M.D., Ph.D., abandoned plans to become a pediatrician when she fell in love with the knowledge and skills a surgeon has.
Volunteer helps patients and visitors find their way
With six children and six grandchildren, caregiving comes naturally to patient navigator volunteer Denise Taliaferro. However, acting in that same role to her husband was never on her list of things to do.
Moon Shots Program launches
With a pledge to accelerate advances ultimately aimed at ending all cancers, MD Anderson launched the Moon Shots Program on Sept. 21, 2012.
Innovation in imaging
The six-story Center for Advanced Biomedical Imaging Research (CABIR) on the South Campus is a rarity — a basic science building with a clinic on the first floor.
The role of emotional cues
Ever wonder why your brain makes decisions you later regret, like continuing to smoke?
Physician assistants in high demand
Physician assistants (PAs) are critical members of the cancer care team — licensed to practice medicine with the supervision of a physician. And as the population of older adults increases, more are needed.
Hands-on environment to test surgical skills
Nicholas Levine, M.D., calls the Microsurgical and Endoscopic Center for Clinical Applications his field of dreams.
Dynamic duo co-leads graduate school
It’s run by two schools: Why not have two deans? This new leadership formula at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) is one that mixes equal parts logic and irrationality.
