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Impact of timing of adjuvant chemotherapy initiation and completion after surgery on racial disparities in survival among women with breast cancer

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Abstract

While large differences by race/ethnicity in breast cancer survival are well established, it is unknown whether differences in quality of chemotherapy delivered explain the racial/ethnic disparities in survival among black, Hispanic, Asian, and white women with breast cancer. We evaluated factors associated with time to initiation of adjuvant chemotherapy and chemotherapy completion and examined outcomes data among women with breast cancer. Patients who initiated chemotherapy later than 3 months after surgery were 1.8 times more likely to die of breast cancer (95 % CI 1.3–2.5) compared with those who initiated chemotherapy less than a month after surgery, even after controlling for known confounders or controlling for race/ethnicity. Women who completed chemotherapy had significantly higher survival compared with those who have not completed chemotherapy. Despite correcting for chemotherapy initiation and completion and known predictors of outcome, African American women still had worse disease-specific survival than their Caucasian counterparts. While a complete and timely adjuvant treatment among various ethnic populations would help to reduce racial disparities in survival, there are still other factors to be identified that may explain the remaining differences in survival between ethnic women with breast cancer.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by “A Transdisciplinary Training Program for Public Health Researcher & Practitioners wanting to Impact Breast Cancer Disparities” KG090010 Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; and in part by a grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality [R01-HS018956].

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Epidemiology, Human Genetics and Environmental Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, 1200 Herman Pressler Dr, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    Z. Z. Nurgalieva, C. C. Liu & X. L. Du

  2. Division of Management, Policy and Community Health, School of Public Health, University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, TX, USA

    L. Franzini & R. O. Morgan

  3. Division of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas Health Science Center, 1200 Herman Pressler Dr, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

    S. W. Vernon

Authors
  1. Z. Z. Nurgalieva
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  2. L. Franzini
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  3. R. O. Morgan
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  4. S. W. Vernon
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  5. C. C. Liu
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  6. X. L. Du
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Correspondence to Z. Z. Nurgalieva.

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Nurgalieva, Z.Z., Franzini, L., Morgan, R.O. et al. Impact of timing of adjuvant chemotherapy initiation and completion after surgery on racial disparities in survival among women with breast cancer. Med Oncol 30, 419 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-012-0419-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12032-012-0419-1

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