A Perfect Storm
These differences in age and stage highlight important differences in tumor biology, genomics, and patterns of care that contribute to the disparity in breast cancer survival between Caucasian and African American women. The February installment of this column will explore tumor biology – the first element in the perfect storm.
Other installments of this column can be found in the Related Content box.
1. Daly B, Olopade OI: A perfect storm: How tumor biology, genomics, and health care delivery patterns collide to create a racial survival disparity in breast cancer and proposed interventions for change. CA Cancer J Clin. 65:221-38, 2015.
2. National Cancer Institute. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program Stat fact sheets: Breast cancer. Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results Program. http://seer.cancer.gov/statfacts/html/breast.html. Accessed Nov. 20, 2015.
3. DeSantis C, Fedewa S, Goding Sauer A, et al., Breast cancer statistics, 2015: Convergence of incidence rates between black and white women. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. doi: 10.3322/caac.21320
4. DeLancey JO, Thun MJ, Jemal A, et al.: Recent trends in Black-White disparities in cancer mortality. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 17:2908-12, 2008.
5. DeSantis C, Jemal A, Ward E, et al.: Temporal trends in breast cancer mortality by state and race. Cancer Causes Control. 19:537-45, 2008.
6. Howlander N NA, Krapcho M, et al. eds.: SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2011, 2014.
7. Clarke CA, West DW, Edwards BK, et al.: Existing data on breast cancer in African-American women: what we know and what we need to know. Cancer. 97:211-21, 2003.
8. Marie Swanson G, Haslam SZ, Azzouz F: Breast cancer among young African-American women: a summary of data and literature and of issues discussed during the Summit Meeting on Breast Cancer Among African American Women, Washington, DC, September 8-10, 2000. Cancer. 97:273-9, 2003.
9. National Cancer Institute. SEER Cancer Statistics Review, 1975-2012. http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2012/results_single/sect_04_table.13.pdf. Accessed, Nov. 20, 2015.
10. Iqbal J, Ginsburg O, Rochon PA, et al: Differences in breast cancer stage at diagnosis and cancer-specific survival by race and ethnicity in the United States. JAMA 313:165-73, 2015.
Dr. Bobby Daly
Bobby Daly, MD, MBA, is the chief fellow in the section of hematology/oncology at the University of Chicago Medicine. His clinical focus is breast and thoracic oncology, and his research focus is health services. Specifically, Dr. Daly researches disparities in oncology care delivery, oncology health care utilization, aggressive end-of-life oncology care, and oncology payment models. He received his MD and MBA from Harvard Medical School and Harvard Business School, both in Boston, and a BA in Economics and History from Stanford (Calif.) University. He was the recipient of the Dean’s Award at Harvard Medical and Business Schools.
Dr. Olufunmilayo Olopade
Olufunmilayo Olopade, MD, FACP, OON, is the Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, and director, Center for Global Health at the University of Chicago. She is adopting emerging high throughput genomic and informatics strategies to identify genetic and nongenetic risk factors for breast cancer in order to implement precision health care in diverse populations. This innovative approach has the potential to improve the quality of care and reduce costs while saving more lives.
Disclosures: Dr. Olopade serves on the Medical Advisory Board for CancerIQ. Dr. Daly serves as a director of Quadrant Holdings Corporation and receives compensation from this entity. Frontline Medical Communications is a subsidiary of Quadrant Holdings Corporation.
Published in conjunction with Susan G. Komen®.
