Improving lung cancer survival outcomes for Māori

Lung cancer is the most lethal cancer for Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand, with more Māori dying from lung cancer each year than the next five most common causes of cancer death combined. Māori have far poorer lung cancer survival outcomes than our majority European population, and access to timely, best-practice diagnosis and care could be an important driver of these disparities. We recently conducted a nationwide project to augment existing evidence and identify points along the clinical pathway where there are ethnic differences in access to this care. We found some cause for cautious celebration, including equitable access to bronchoscopy, pathological diagnosis, radiation therapy and systemic therapy, as well as minimal differences in the timing of treatment between ethnic groups. However, we identified a number of disparities along the treatment pathway that require intervention, including higher emergency presentation rates, poorer access to early detection, lower surgery rates and disparities in the distance required to travel to bronchoscopy, surgery and radiation therapy. Based on our observations from this project, along with the context provided by literature review and discussions with stakeholders, we have made five recommendations for areas of action to address these disparities, with a view to ultimately improving survival outcomes for Māori. Our results suggest that it is possible to achieve equitable outcomes for Māori in key areas; we must now push forward toward closing further gaps if we are to achieve equity in lung cancer survival for our Indigenous peoples.