March 2022

ONCOLOGY

DISPARITIES IN BREAST CANCER

Featuring:  Betina Yanez, PhD

Recent findings published in JAMA Oncology found that individual insurance status and residential zip codes were correlated with overall survival among women with early hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

“This study shows that where you live and what type of health insurance you have can matter,” said Betina Yanez, PhD, associate professor of Medical Social Sciences and a co-author of the study.

Hormone receptor-positive breast cancer is characterized by breast cancer cells that contain either estrogen or progesterone proteins, or both. These receptors attach to substances in the blood to help increase tumor growth and metastasis. Endocrine hormone therapy is the standard course of treatment, in addition to surgery, radiation or chemotherapy.

​ The association between social drivers of health on the individual- and neighborhood-levels has not been well-studied in broad populations of patients with breast cancer.

In the current study, investigators analyzed data from more than 9,700 women with hormone-receptor positive breast cancer who were enrolled in the National Cancer Institute’s Trial Assigning Individualized Options for Treatment (TAILORx) breast cancer trial.

Post-hoc analysis revealed that patients with Medicare or Medicaid insurance had shorter overall survival compared to those with private insurance and patients living in neighborhoods with the highest neighborhood deprivation index score also experienced shorter overall survival.

“These findings indicate that there is a need to develop more nuanced, predictive models to better understand disparities in breast cancer,” Yanez said. ​

Sofia Garcia, PhD, associate professor of Medical Social Sciences and of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, was a co-author of the study.

Yanez is associate director of the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences (NUCATS) Institute’s Multidisciplinary Career Development (KL2) Program.

Garcia and Yanez are both members of NUCATS and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University.

This work was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health grants U10CA180820, U10CA180794, UG1CA189828, UG1CA233160, UG1CA233320, UG1CA233247 and U10CA180863, and Canadian Cancer Society award 704970.
​
This article is modified from one originally published in the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine News Center on March 8, 2022. 
Betina Yanez, PhD, associate professor of Medical Social Sciences, was a co-author of the study published in JAMA Oncology.

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