Indian Health Service Care System and Cancer Stage in American Indians and Alaska Natives

Purpose. We aimed to determine whether the association between late-stage cancer and American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) race differed by enrollment in the Indian Health Service Care System (IHSCS). Methods. We used Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data linked to Medicare files to compare the odds of late-stage breast, colorectal, lung, or prostate cancer between non-Hispanic Whites (NHWs) (n=285,993) and AI/ANs with (n=581) and without (n=543) IHSCS enrollment. Results. For AI/ANs without IHSCS enrollment, the odds of late-stage disease were higher in AI/ANs compared with NHWs for breast (OR=3.17, 95%CI: 1.82–5.53) and for prostate (OR=2.59, 95%CI:1.55–4.32) cancer, but not for colorectal or lung cancers. Among AI/ANs with IHSCS enrollment, there was not a significant association between late-stage disease and AI/AN race for any of the four cancers evaluated. Conclusion. Our results suggest that enrollment in the IHSCS reduced the disparity between AI/ANs and NHWs with respect to late-stage cancer diagnoses.