Location Creates Travel Burden and Treatment Inequities for Patients With DLBCL and FL
Key Takeaways:
- In a group of 1039 patients, distance and time taken to travel for treatment of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL) varied greatly. Patients spent anywhere from 30 minutes or less to over an hour traveling.
- Patients in more remote and less educated areas experienced more travel barriers than patients living in cities and near hospital oncology services.
- Patients from the Southern US had to travel more than patients from the Northeastern or Midwestern regions.
A study recorded the distance and time patients with DLBCL traveled to get treatment. The study included 1039 patients with DLBCL and FL who received treatment with bispecific antibodies from January 2022 to December 2024. The results showed inequities in travel burden among different groups of patients.
Travel burden among patients varied widely. Over half the number of patients traveled less than 30 miles for treatment, with the other half split between traveling either 30 to 60 miles or over 60 miles.
The amount of time traveled also ranged widely, with 39% of patients traveling less than 30 minutes, 30% traveling anywhere between 30 to 60 minutes, and 31% taking over an hour to travel for treatment.
Travel Burden Differs among Geographic and Socioeconomic Regions
The findings showed travel burden is greatly affected by the geographic region in which a patient lives. Patients from rural areas traveled an additional 56.1 miles and 53.9 minutes vs those who live in cities. Patients from the Northeast and Midwest also traveled less than people from the South, traveling approximately 20 to 36 fewer miles and 20 to 30 fewer minutes to receive treatment.
Patient proximity to hospital oncology services also affected travel. Those who lived in or near counties with these services traveled less than those who lived in counties without.
Patients living in areas with high education rates traveled 23% less miles than patients from areas with lower education rates.
On average, female patients traveled less than male patients, taking 16% fewer miles to receive treatment. White patients traveled more, traveling 22% more miles and 16% more minutes than patients of color.
Implications for Physicians
Travel burden affects patient access to care for DLBCL and FL and is mainly determined by where patients live in the US. The authors said, “Travel burden was greater for pts living in areas that were rural, lacked hospital oncology services in their county, or lived in the Southern region of the US.”
The authors suggest that providers take travel barriers into account when determining treatment for DLBCL and FL. Using fixed-duration bispecific antibodies with less frequent dosing is something to be considered.
Reference
Frosh Z, Masaquel A, Ma E, et al. Inequity in travel burden among patients receiving bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and follicular lymphoma (FL): a real-world study of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States (US). Blood. 2025;146(1):2622. doi:10.1182/blood-2025-2622
