Health care disparities in the treatment of colorectal cancer

Opinion statement: Treatment of colorectal carcinoma remains challenging, especially in patients with recurrent or metastatic disease. Despite advances in screening and treatment of this cancer, health care disparities remain one of the major yet amendable factors that can lead to differences in outcomes. As clinicians, we need to be aware of such disparities to better tailor our screening and treatment interventions for our patients. Knowing that socioeconomic status, educational status, and personal beliefs contribute to racial disparities in this disease, as clinicians we should strive to know our patients and their beliefs to help minimize this discrepancy. Additionally, we need to maintain and advance our knowledge by keeping up with all clinical and translational research in the field and create strategies to increase enrollment of racial minorities in clinical trials. While conventional chemotherapies continue to play a vital role, it is becoming more and more evident that treatment strategies need to be personalized. Understanding the molecular biology of cancer has changed the landscape of new therapies. Future research needs to be directed towards understanding genetic, biological, and pharmacogenetic and genomic contributors to the development of disease and treatment responses.