Recent relocation and decreased survival following a cancer diagnosis.
To determine the impact of recent relocation prior to a cancer diagnosis on cancer-specific outcomes.



We identified 272,718 patients with two different entries in the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database within 3years of each other. Those who had relocated to a different county between entries were identified and we determined the risk of stage IV disease or cancer-specific mortality among relocators and non-relocators after adjusting for other patient-specific demographic and clinical factors.



A total of 4639 (1.7%) patients relocated to a new county within 3years prior to a second cancer diagnosis and 268,079 (98.3%) patients did not. Patients who had relocated to a new area were more likely to be diagnosed with stage IV cancer (25.2% vs. 20.8%; adjusted odds ratio=1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.18-1.37; P<0.001), and had an increased risk of 10-year cancer-specific mortality (20.9% vs. 17.9%; adjusted hazard ratio 1.26; 95% CI, 1.17-1.36; P<0.001).



These results suggest that recent relocation to a new county prior to a cancer diagnosis is associated with an increased risk of late-stage presentation and worse cancer-specific mortality.
Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, United States. Electronic address: vmuralidhar@partners.org.
Vinayak
V
Muralidhar
Department of Radiation Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, United States. Electronic address: pnguyen@LROC.harvard.edu.
Paul L
PL
Nguyen
Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health/Center for Community Based Research, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, United States. Electronic address: retucker@hsph.harvard.edu.
Reginald D
RD
Tucker-Seeley
D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005843:Geography; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009362:Neoplasm Metastasis; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality*; D012307:Risk Factors; D018426:SEER Program / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology
Cancer-specific mortality; Healthcare disparities; Metastatic cancer; Psychosocial stress; Relocation