Race differences in breast cancer due to biology
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Differences in how many Hispanic and Caucasian women are diagnosed with breast cancer may be the result of biological factors rather than differences in access to healthcare services, according to findings published in the journal Cancer.
Previous research has shown that the average Hispanic woman who is diagnosed with breast cancer has different characteristics that the average non-Hispanic white women, Dr. Tim Byers, of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, and colleagues write.
"These differences," they note, "include earlier (average) age at diagnosis, later stage of disease at diagnosis, and the presence of tumor characteristics associated with poor prognosis."
To see whether these differences persist for Hispanic women despite equal access to screening and care, the team compared Hispanic and non-Hispanic white breast cancer cases registered between 1995 and 2004 in the Kaiser Permanente of Colorado Tumor Registry. Included in the study were 139 Hispanic women and 2,118 non-Hispanic white women.
The use of mammographic screening services in the prior 2 years was similar between the groups.
The average age at diagnosis was significantly younger for Hispanic women than for non-Hispanic white women. Thirty-one percent of Hispanic women were diagnosed under age 50 years, compared with 20 percent of non-Hispanic white women.
Relative to non-Hispanic white women, Hispanic women were more likely to be diagnosed with large, aggressive breast cancers.
These findings, which took into account access to healthcare, "suggest that true biologic differences exist in breast cancer by ethnicity," Byers and colleagues conclude. Future research should delve further into this topic and determine if breast cancer prevention strategies should differ by race, they add.
SOURCE: Cancer, May 15, 2007.
What breastcancer.org says about this article…
Race differences in breast cancer due to biology
Breast cancer in Hispanic women is usually more aggressive than breast cancer in non-Hispanic white women. Breast cancer in Hispanic women is:
- diagnosed at a younger age
- more advanced at diagnosis
- more likely to cause death at an earlier age
Similar differences exist between African American and white women. These differences could be due to different quality medical care received by women of various races. Unfortunately, there's plenty of evidence that shows there disparities in healthcare timeliness and quality exist between African Americans and whites.
But some breast cancer differences are probably due to genetics. Different genes may make breast cancer more aggressive in African American and Hispanic women. The study reviewed here suggests that this may be true for Hispanic women.
In this study, both Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women received timely mammograms and follow-up doctor visits. But the Hispanic women tended to be diagnosed with more aggressive and advanced breast cancer at a younger age. The researchers concluded that this was due to genetic differences in the cancers.
EVERY woman with breast cancer—no matter her age, height, weight, ethnicity, or medical history—is unique. And the same is true of every breast cancer. The challenge is to better understand the differences in breast cancer biology. Researchers hope to develop tests that can give us a fuller, more complete picture of a cancer's genetic makeup. Then treatments can be prescribed that are personalized for each cancer.
