(HealthDay News) — Breast cancer-specific survival is shorter in women from disadvantaged neighborhoods than in those from advantaged neighborhoods, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
Researchers investigated neighborhood socioeconomic status and breast cancer-specific survival in 5027 women with stage I to IV breast cancer. The patients were treated at a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center and sister safety-net hospital (Jan. 10, 2007, to Sept. 9, 2016) with a mean follow-up of 60.3 months.
Patients living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods had a higher risk of breast cancer-specific mortality than those living in the most advantaged neighborhoods, after the researchers controlled for individual-level factors, tumor characteristics, and receipt of guideline-appropriate treatment (hazard ratio [HR], 1.44; 95% CI, 1.13-1.84; P =.003).
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Other factors associated with an increased risk of breast cancer-specific mortality were non-Hispanic Black race (HR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.26-2.30; P <.001) and estrogen receptor-negative/HER2-negative disease (HR, 2.07; 95% CI, 1.67-2.56; P <.001).
“The findings of this study suggest unaccounted mechanisms associated with breast cancer-specific survival, such as unmeasured social and access to care barriers, and lays the foundation for future research evaluating whether neighborhood disadvantage leads to more aggressive tumor biologic factors through the accumulation of social and environmental stressors,” the researchers wrote.
Two researchers disclosed financial ties to Blue Note Therapeutics, a prescription digital therapeutics company. One researcher disclosed ties to the pharmaceutical industry.
