Race, nutritional status, and survival from breast cancer

The effects of nutritional status on differences in the survival of black and white women with breast cancer were studied in a cohort of 1,960 Georgia women diagnosed during 1975-1979. After data were adjusted for stage of disease, socioeconomic status, and other prognostic factors, poorer survival rates were shown in black women. Within each stage classification, lower levels of serum albumin and hemoglobin and higher relative body weight were more common among blacks and were independently associated with poorer survival. Among women with stage 3 disease, adjustment for these variables substantially reduced the excess mortality rate among blacks, suggesting that racial differences in survival may be partly explained by differences in nutritional status or extent of disease within stage.