Impact of race/ethnicity and language preferences on pediatric ALL survival outcomes

BACKGROUND: Ethnic and racial disparities have recently been observed both in treatment‐related toxicities and rates of long‐lasting cure in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute lymphoblastic lymphoma (ALLy), the most common pediatric malignancy. Despite significant improvements in overall survival in the recent past, a large number of children die from aggressive disease. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort analysis of 274 pediatric ALL/ALLy patients within Montefiore Health System from 2004 to 2021 to determine differences in all‐cause mortality within the Pediatric Hematologic Malignancies Cohort using Cox Proportional Hazard regression modeling, adjusted for age at diagnosis, race/ethnicity, administration of intensive chemotherapy, preferred language, maximum glucose, and hypertension. RESULTS: Among our 274 patients, 132 were Hispanic, 54 Non‐Hispanic Black, and 25 Non‐Hispanic White, with 25 identified as “Non‐Hispanic Other,” including Asian, Arabic, and Other. Hispanic patients were 78% less likely to die (HR 0.22; 95% CI 0.07, 0.73) when compared with Non‐Hispanic Black individuals. Spanish speakers were 2.91 times more likely to die compared with those who spoke English (HR 2.91; 95% CI 1.08, 7.82). Among those English speakers, the diagnosis of hypertension and Hispanic ethnicity significantly impacted the risk of death, while these factors did not impact survival in Spanish speakers. High‐risk cytogenetics did not impact survival. CONCLUSIONS: Hispanic children with ALL/ALLy have improved survival outcomes compared with Non‐Hispanic Blacks. Additionally, Spanish language preference was strongly associated with poorer survival, a novel finding that should be validated in future studies.