Long-term outcomes and clinicopathologic differences of African-American versus white patients treated with breast conservation therapy for early-stage breast cancer

Abstract

BACKGROUND. African-American (AA) and white patients with early-stage disease who were treated with breast conservation therapy (BCT) were examined to detect differences in clinicopathologic features and outcomes as a function of race. METHODS. Clinical data from the charts of 2164 white and 207 AA patients treated with BCT, and p53 expression status on 444 patients (from an existing tissue database), were analyzed to detect differences between the 2 cohorts. RESULTS. The median follow-up was 7 years. There were no differences in the method of tumor detection, lymph nodes excised, surgical margin status, or chemotherapy/radiotherapy delivered, reflecting similar screening and treatment policies for AA women in the study community. Despite this, AA patient presented at a younger age, with higher T and N classifications, and more estrogen and progesterone negative and "triple negative" tumors (all P values