Most research on cancer patient survival uses registry-based (e.g., SEER) incidence and survival data that have limited socioeconomic status and health-risk information. In this study, we used the 1997-2015 National Health Interview Survey-National Death Index prospectively-linked pooled cohort database (n = 40,291 cancer patients) to examine disparities in patient survival by a broad range of social determinants, including race/ethnicity, nativity, educational attainment, income/poverty level, occupation, housing tenure, physical and mental health status, smoking, physical activity, body mass index, and alcohol consumption. We used Cox proportional hazards models to estimate mortality hazard ratios and cause-specific 1-year, 5-year, and 10-year survival rates for all-cancer and lung cancer. During 1997-2015, the 10-year age-adjusted (all-cause) survival rate for cancer patients with professional and managerial occupations was 89.66%, significantly higher than the survival rate of 83.17% for laborers or 83.66% for the unemployed. Cancer patients with renting house had significantly lower age-adjusted survival rates than those owning house (82.65% vs. 85.80%). The 10-year age-adjusted survival rates were significantly greater among cancer patients with regular physical activity than those without regular physical activity (90.18% vs. 83.24%). Age-adjusted survival rates were significantly reduced for cancer patients with lower income and education, poor health, and serious psychological distress, and among current and former smokers. The gap in survival narrowed with additional sociodemographic, health, or behavioral adjustment. Similarly large differentials were found in lung cancer survival. Marked disparities in all-cancer and lung cancer survival were found by a wide range of sociodemographic and health characteristics.

Keywords: Cancer, Survival, Social class, Health behaviors, Lung neoplasm