Blackstock, William

4017 Background: Published reports suggest that CC pts of A descent have inferior survival compared to W pts. Whether these differences are explained by clinical factors at diagnosis, socioeconomic factors impacting access to care, or intrinsic differences in the biology of the tumors or the response to therapy is unclear. Pts in clinical trials have data collected for important baseline clinical factors and should receive comparable oncologic care regardless of socioeconomic factors. Methods: We analyzed data from 13,435 individual pts on 11 phase III adjuvant CC trials accrued from 1977 to 2002. Analysis was restricted to stage II and III pts, with race reported as black or white. Endpoints were overall survival (OS - time to death), recurrence-free survival (RFS - time to recurrence or death), and recurrence-free interval (RFI - time to recurrence censoring for death). Cox models stratified by study controlled for gender, stage, age, and treatment type (rx) to determine the effect of race. Kaplan-Meier estimates (KM) were adjusted (adj) by the Xie-Liu method for study, gender, stage, age, and rx. Results: A pts (n=1134, 8.4%) were younger than W (median 58 vs 61, p<0.001) and more likely female (55 vs 45%, p<0.001). A pts had poorer OS than W pts ( table ). OS results were consistent in subsets defined by gender, stage, and age. RFS results were attenuated compared to OS, but still favored improved RFS in W pts ( table ). RFI results were further attenuated and not significantly different by race ( table ). Conclusions: Even with identical rx for CC in controlled clinical trials, A pts have poorer OS and RFS than W pts. The OS deficit was consistent across subgroups, and neither deficit was explained by differences in gender, stage, age, or rx. RFI was similar for both races, suggesting that the OS and RFS differences may be largely due to deaths unrelated to CC. [Table: see text] [Table: see text]