Disparities at the Intersection of Race and Ethnicity: Examining Trends and Outcomes in Hispanic Women With Breast Cancer

Purpose: We sought to examine tumor subtype, stage at diagnosis, time to surgery (TTS), and overall survival (OS) among Hispanic patients of different races and among Hispanic and non-Hispanic (NH) women of the same race.

Methods: Women 18 years of age or older who had been diagnosed with stage 0-IV breast cancer and who had undergone lumpectomy or mastectomy were identified in the National Cancer Database (2004-2014). Tumor subtype and stage at diagnosis were compared by race/ethnicity. Multivariable linear regression and Cox proportional hazards modeling were used to estimate associations between race/ethnicity and adjusted TTS and OS, respectively.

Results: A total of 44,374 Hispanic (American Indian [AI]: 79 [0.2%]; Black: 1,011 [2.3%]; White: 41,126 [92.7%]; Other: 2,158 [4.9%]) and 858,634 NH women (AI: 2,319 [0.3%]; Black: 97,206 [11.3%]; White: 727,270 [84.7%]; Other: 31,839 [3.7%]) were included. Hispanic Black women had lower rates of triple-negative disease (16.2%) than did NH Black women (23.5%) but higher rates than did Hispanic White women (13.9%; < .001). Hispanic White women had higher rates of node-positive disease (23.2%) versus NH White women (14.4%) but slightly lower rates than Hispanic (24.6%) and NH Black women (24.5%; < .001). Hispanic White women had longer TTS versus NH White women regardless of treatment sequence (adjusted means: adjuvant chemotherapy, 42.71 38.60 days; neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 208.55 201.14 days; both < .001), but there were no significant racial differences in TTS among Hispanic patients. After adjustment, Hispanic White women (hazard ratio, 0.77 [95% CI, 0.74 to 0.81]) and Black women (hazard ratio, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.58 to 0.96]) had improved OS versus NH White women (reference) and Black women (hazard ratio, 1.15 [95% CI, 1.12 to 1.18]; all < .05).

Conclusion: Hispanic women had improved OS versus NH women, but racial differences in tumor subtype and nodal stage among Hispanic women highlight the importance of disaggregating racial/ethnic data in breast cancer research.