Racial and ethnic minorities with breast cancer had a higher likelihood of declining various treatment options than white patients in the past 2 decades, results from a retrospective study published in JAMA Network Open showed. Black patients more often declined surgery and radiotherapy compared with other groups in the study.
Individuals who received chemotherapy, hormone therapy, radiotherapy and/or surgery had higher 5-year and 10-year OS rates than those who did not, according to study investigators. Moreover, they observed a trend showing significantly more patients declining treatment with hormone therapy, radiotherapy or surgery.
These findings highlight racial and ethnic disparities in treatment declination and overall survival of patients with breast cancer, suggesting that equity-focused interventions are needed to address the disparities to improve patients’ survival, researchers wrote.
Healio previously reported an American Cancer Society estimate that breast cancer, among all cancer types, would account for the highest number of newly diagnosed cancer cases in the U.S. this year, with 313,510. The same report noted breast cancer would cause 42,780 deaths.
Breast cancer diagnosis and treatment can take a heavy toll on patients’ physical, mental, psychosocial and financial health, Jincong Q. Freeman, MPH, MS, graduate student at the University of Chicago, and colleagues wrote.
