New perspectives on health disparities in breast cance...(sons to reassess how African-American wo...),Health
sons to reassess how African-American women are screened and treated for breast cancer. Our data suggests that although screening mammograms detect tumors of similar size, it appears that the advantage gained by early detection is relatively less in African-American women, Nichols said. This study merits further evaluation of whether African-American women would benefit from either more frequent mammograms or the use of more sensitive screening methods, such as MRI.
The University of Chicago study began in 1986 and, in the ensuing decades, encompassed 1,246 women, aged 40 and above, treated at University of Chicago Hospitals and affiliates. The women enrolled had either stage I or II cancer, and they were all treated by lumpectomy and radiotherapy. About one third of participants were African-American, and they were more likely to present with large tumors and cancer that was detectable in the lymph nodes. The researchers determined socioeconomic status by patients zip code and co-morbid diseases by patient report. Patients voluntarily defined their own ethnic status.
Nichols and his colleagues compared the African-American women to all other women enrolled in the study. When the researchers accounted for poverty and co-morbidity -- diseases such as hypertension, chronic pulmonary obstructive disease, coronary artery disease and diabetes -- race remained an independent trait that indicated poor prognosis for women with breast tumors detected through mammogram. Nichols cautioned that although the study controlled for many known prognostic indicators, it did not account for all. Our study did not include important known contributors including the status of the Her2 gene or detailed information regarding hormonal therapy, Nichols said.
Overall survival was worse for African-American women (78.1 percent versus 84.9 percent). In addition, disease-free survival, that is, survival without relapse eight years after treatment was also worse for A
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| Contact: Greg Lester greg.lester@aacr.org 267-646-0554 American Association for Cancer Research Source:Eurekalert |
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