Late-stage breast cancer in Connecticut's three largest cities

Among 1,559 breast cancer patients diagnosed in 1984-89 in residents of Connecticut's three largest cities (Bridgeport, Hartford, and New Haven), the proportion of late- (ie, regional or distant) stage cancers increased with increasing poverty level in the census tract of residence. Many census tracts with the highest proportions of late-stage breast cancers were located near a federally-qualified community health center or a hospital. Changing the stage distribution of breast cancer through increased screening by mammography and clinical breast examination may require greater collaboration among community health centers, local hospitals, mammography facilities, and mobile mammography vans, along with continuing medical education programs for primary care physicians in these cities.