Gilberto Lopes, Professor and Chief of the Division of Medical Oncology at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, Board Member of UICC, shared on LinkedIn:
“As I arrive in Hong Kong for UICC and WCC26, a new JAMA Network Open study provides another reminder that cancer outcomes are shaped long before a new drug enters the picture.
Researchers studied 658,593 adults aged 40–64 with colorectal cancer across Medicaid expansion and nonexpansion states.
Using a difference-in-differences design, Medicaid expansion was associated with:
- 6.3% lower overall mortality hazard
- 2.13 percentage points more early-stage diagnoses
- 1.54 percentage points more surgical treatment
The mortality association was seen across disease stages and was particularly pronounced among Hispanic patients.
This is an observational analysis, so we should not turn an association into a causal claim. But the pattern is important.
‘Insurance coverage can influence when people enter the health system, when cancers are diagnosed, and whether patients receive definitive treatment.’
Cancer control therefore cannot be separated from access, coverage, and health-system capacity.
We often talk about progress in cancer through new diagnostics and therapies. Those advances matter enormously. But they cannot deliver their full benefit if patients reach them too late – or not at all.”
You can also read: Why Surviving Cancer Still Depends On Where You Live?
