Switzerland has what many Americans want – a well developed healthcare system where most of a person’s medical needs are well covered and healthcare is affordable. But even so, a new Swiss study indicates that despite all those perks low income prostate cancer patients there are far more likely to succumb to the disease than their wealthier counterparts.

The study was led by Elisabetta Rapiti, M.D., MPH, of the University of Geneva and encompasses data gathered between 1995 and 2005. The subjects were all diagnosed with prostate cancer during that decade.

In total 2,738 people were included in the study, all of whom were part of the Geneva Cancer Registry. Each individual patient was classified in one of three socio economic categories at the time of their diagnosis – high, medium or low. From their Dr Rapiti and her colleagues set out to examine the patient and tumor differences, as well as the differences in treatment received by the different socio economic classes.

What they found was that patients considered to be of low socio-economic status were far less likely to have their cancer detected at an early, more treatable stage. These patients were more likely to receive fewer tests to categorize their cancer stage and were more likely to be treated by a practice known as “watchful waiting” than by more aggressive treatments such as surgery or radiation. “Watchful waiting” is the practice of monitoring the prostate cancer growth without any actual treatment being administered. The practice is usually advised for those who suffer from other serious illnesses for whom surgery or radiation treatments might prove dangerous.

The mortality rates for those prostate cancer patients were also higher than that for wealthier patients – the rate was twice as high. This is all attributable to the level of care says Dr Rapiti “The increased mortality risk of patients of low socioeconomic status is almost completely explained by delayed diagnosis, poor work-up, and less complete treatment, indicating inequitable use of the health care system, “she says.

In their conclusion the authors recommend that reducing the disparities in the care received by those of lower socio- economic status should become a priority for the nation’s government and healthcare authorities to address. Improving a lower income person’s knowledge of, and access to early testing and varied treatment options should go a long way towards ending the differences that this study identified.