Factors Associated with Surgery Among South Asian American and Non-Hispanic White Women with Breast Cancer

South Asian American (SA) women are diagnosed with more aggressive breast cancer than non-Hispanic White (NHW) women. Understanding the factors associated with the types of surgery received by these women sheds light on disease management in these culturally distinct populations. We used data on age at diagnosis, stage, grade, estrogen and progesterone receptors, and surgery from 4,590 SA and 429,030 NHW breast cancer cases in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results (SEER) program. We used logistic regression with surgery as the binary outcome (subcutaneous, total, or radical mastectomy (STRM) versus partial mastectomy, no, unknown or other (PNUM)) and included additive effects of all the variables and interactions of age, stage, grade, and estrogen and progesterone receptors with race/ethnicity. Type I error of 5% was used to assess statistical significance of the effects. SA were significantly more likely than NHW cases to receive STRM relative to PNUM surgery among women diagnosed at or after age 50 years and having localized stage disease (Odds Ratio (OR) = 1.27, 95% Confidence Interval (CI) = 1.06 - 1.52). Further, SA were significantly less likely than NHW cases to receive STRM relative to PNUM surgery among those diagnosed before age 50 years and having regional or distant stage disease (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.59 - 0.95 for age at diagnosis < 40 years; OR = 0.77, 95% CI = 0.62 - 0.95 for age at diagnosis 40-49 years). The type of surgery received by SA and NHW women differ according to age at diagnosis and disease stage.