ASO Author Reflections: Bridging the Gap: Patient-Centered Multi-level Solutions to Address Disparities in Foregut Cancer Care

Disparities in foregut cancer care remain a significant challenge, particularly in the southeastern United States, where socioeconomic disadvantage, limited availability of specialty care, and systemic barriers intersect to limit access to high-quality cancer care.While prior quantitative studies have highlighted the significant role of race, socioeconomic status, and healthcare access in shaping these disparities, 1-3 there has been a gap in understanding this from the patient's perspective-the barriers they experience, and how these barriers shape their engagement with the healthcare system.Gaining insight into the patient perspectives and the lived experiences of patients navigating foregut cancer care is key to a more comprehensive understanding of the barriers that exist, and modifiable factors that may be targeted for interventions.This study sought to address the existing knowledge gap by integrating qualitative insights with quantitative data to explore barriers to foregut cancer care from the patient perspective.