Time to diagnosis and breast cancer stage by race/ethnicity - PubMed (original) (raw)

. 2012 Dec;136(3):813-21.

doi: 10.1007/s10549-012-2304-1. Epub 2012 Oct 26.

Rulla M Tamimi, Melissa E Hughes, Rebecca A Ottesen, Yu-Ning Wong, Stephen B Edge, Richard L Theriault, Douglas W Blayney, Joyce C Niland, Eric P Winer, Jane C Weeks, Ann H Partridge

Affiliations

Time to diagnosis and breast cancer stage by race/ethnicity

Erica T Warner et al. Breast Cancer Res Treat. 2012 Dec.

Abstract

We examined differences in time to diagnosis by race/ethnicity, the relationship between time to diagnosis and stage, and the extent to which it explains differences in stage at diagnosis across racial/ethnic groups. Our analytic sample includes 21,427 non-Hispanic White (White), Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black (Black) and non-Hispanic Asian/Pacific Islander (Asian) women diagnosed with stage I to IV breast cancer between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2007 at one of eight National Comprehensive Cancer Network centers. We measured time from initial abnormal mammogram or symptom to breast cancer diagnosis. Stage was classified using AJCC criteria. Initial sign of breast cancer modified the association between race/ethnicity and time to diagnosis. Among symptomatic women, median time to diagnosis ranged from 36 days among Whites to 53.6 for Blacks. Among women with abnormal mammograms, median time to diagnosis ranged from 21 days among Whites to 29 for Blacks. Blacks had the highest proportion (26 %) of Stage III or IV tumors. After accounting for time to diagnosis, the observed increased risk of stage III/IV breast cancer was reduced from 40 to 28 % among Hispanics and from 113 to 100 % among Blacks, but estimates remained statistically significant. We were unable to fully account for the higher proportion of late-stage tumors among Blacks. Blacks and Hispanics experienced longer time to diagnosis than Whites, and Blacks were more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage tumors. Longer time to diagnosis did not fully explain differences in stage between racial/ethnicity groups.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1

Figure 1

Time to diagnosis by race/ethnicity and initial sign/symptom, among women diagnosed with breast cancer, NCCN, 2000–2007.

Figure 1

Figure 1

Time to diagnosis by race/ethnicity and initial sign/symptom, among women diagnosed with breast cancer, NCCN, 2000–2007.

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