Social and economic situations can have major impacts on health, including outcomes for cancer patients. Research studies and clinical trials have shown how the social determinants of health and the health care inequities that impact many lower-economic populations can lead to cancer diagnoses in the later stages and poorer outcomes, according to Samilia Obeng-Gyasi, MD, MPH, a surgical oncologist at the OSUCCC – James. Obeng-Gyasi, who specializes in breast cancer, conducts research that focuses on how income level and access to healthcare — as well as the financial and emotional stress of cancer diagnoses and treatment — can result in more aggressive cancers, worse outcomes and higher death rates. These issues are more pronounced in lower-income populations and among many minority groups, such as Black women. “We’ve found that women with no health insurance or Medicaid presented with more advanced stages of breast cancer and had worse overall mortality rates than patients with private health insurance,” Obeng-Gyasi says. Other areas of her research look at the Allostatic loads of breast cancer patients and how they impact their long-term outcomes. An Allostatic load is a way to measure the cumulative burden of stress in patients. “We’ve found that cancer patients with higher Allostatic loads have higher risks of death from their cancers,” Obeng-Gyasi says, adding that additional research is underway that could determine if people with long-term, high Allostatic loads have increased risks for cancer. Another study found that Black women with breast cancer have higher rates of what Obeng-Gyasi calls “rapid relapse.” As a result of these findings, Obeng-Gyasi has worked with Barbara Andersen, PhD, an OSUCCC – James psychologist, on stress-reduction methods. “The results of the study are compelling,” Obeng-Gyasi says. “Patients who participated have a better chance of survival and a lower rate of their cancer coming back.”