Not all treatments created equal: Identifying barriers to immunotherapy for melanoma
Source: Healio, May 2024
Key takeaways:
- Immunotherapy is an effective yet very expensive treatment for melanoma.
- Barriers to immunotherapy access include proximity to research centers, socioeconomic status, insurance status and education level.
Immunotherapy is a life-saving treatment for melanoma, but not all individuals have access to this treatment, according to a study.
“Health care disparities prevail across all aspects of cancer and cancer treatment, including melanoma,” Fabiola Ramirez, MSN, of the Paul L. Foster School of Medicine, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, and colleagues wrote. “These disparities arise from social, economic and environmental factors otherwise known as the social determinants of health.”