Racial and ethnic differences in adjuvant hormonal therapy use

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Disparities
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Breast cancer survival rates vary significantly by race/ethnicity in the US.
• Adjuvant hormonal therapy is a key treatment for hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
• Understanding racial/ethnic differences in treatment use is crucial for addressing survival disparities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine racial/ethnic differences in adjuvant hormonal therapy use among women with hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.
• To investigate how these differences changed over time.
• To assess the impact of genetic susceptibility on therapy use.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from the Northern California Breast Cancer Family Registry (NC-BCFR).
• Analyzed self-reported hormonal therapy use in women aged 18-64.
• Employed multivariable adjusted logistic regression, stratified by recruitment phase and genetic susceptibility.

Main Results:

• No significant overall racial/ethnic differences in hormonal therapy use were observed between study phases.
• In Phase I (earlier diagnoses) without genetic susceptibility indicators, African American and non-Hispanic white women were less likely to use hormonal therapy compared to Asian American women.
• No racial/ethnic differences were found in women with genetic susceptibility indicators or in Phase II (later diagnoses).

Conclusions:

• Racial/ethnic disparities in adjuvant hormonal therapy use were primarily observed in earlier diagnosis years and decreased over time.
• Treatment disparities between African American and Asian American women narrowed as hormonal treatments became more widespread.
• Findings suggest that increased adoption of adjuvant hormonal therapy contributed to reduced racial/ethnic treatment gaps.