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“African American women 1.5 to 2.2 times more likely than white women to die from breast cancer”
– International Journal of Surgery

“US study found that men who are obese or overweight when diagnosed with prostate cancer have a higher risk of death after treatment”
– Cancer Journal

The headlines describe the disparity among the outcomes for cancer patients nationwide, but Gary Lyman, MD, MPH, the director of Duke’s Health Services and Outcomes Research Program in Oncology, wants to know why. Lyman and his research group use a variety of large healthcare databases such as SEER (Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results) from the National Cancer Institute to investigate patterns of care and outcomes for cancer patients in today’s society. His goal is to optimize the care currently delivered to cancer patients. “Even without new treatments, we can reduce cancer mortality substantially if we can optimize the current health system to ensure that everyone is diagnosed early, is properly evaluated, and is treated and supported appropriately,” says Lyman.

Pictured: Gary Lyman, MD