Racial Differences in the Use of Adjuvant Chemotherapy for Breast Cancer in a Large Urban Integrated Health System
Table 1
Distribution of clinical and sociodemographic features of the HFHS study cohort stratified by race.
Both races N (%)
White N (%)
African American N (%)
P value*
Total
2,234
1,499
735
Age at diagnosis
0.260
<50
526 (23.5%)
346 (23.1%)
180 (24.5%)
50–64
723 (32.4%)
474 (31.6%)
249 (33.9%)
65+
985 (44.1%)
679 (45.3%)
306 (41.6%)
Mean (std)
61.2 (14.0)
61.6 (13.9)
60.5 (14.1)
0.091
Tumor size
<0.001
<2 cm
1449 (64.9%)
1010 (67.4%)
439 (59.7%)
2.1–5 cm
648 (29.0%)
407 (27.2%)
241 (32.8%)
>5 cm
102 (4.6%)
54 (3.6%)
48 (6.5%)
Unknown
35 (1.6%)
28 (1.9%)
7 (1.0%)
Lymph node status
<0.001
Negative
1575 (70.5%)
1091 (72.8%)
484 (65.9%)
Positive
659 (29.5%)
408 (27.2%)
251 (34.1%)
AJCC stage
0.001
I
1162 (52.0%)
823 (54.9%)
339 (46.1%)
II
911 (40.8%)
575 (38.4%)
336 (45.7%)
III
161 (7.2%)
101 (6.7%)
60 (8.2%)
ER/PR receptors
<0.001
ER+/PR+
1404 (62.8%)
999 (66.6%)
405 (55.1%)
ER+/PR−
200 (9.0%)
125 (8.3%)
75 (10.2%)
ER−/PR+
41 (1.8%)
29 (1.9%)
12 (1.6%)
ER−/PR−
496 (22.2%)
280 (18.7%)
216 (29.4%)
Unknown
93 (4.2%)
66 (4.4%)
27 (3.7%)
Histology
0.052
Ductal
1730 (77.4%)
1141 (76.1%)
589 (80.1%)
Lobular
197 (8.8%)
146 (9.7%)
51 (6.9%)
Mixed
134 (6.0%)
98 (6.5%)
36 (4.9%)
Other
173 (7.7%)
114 (7.6%)
59 (8.0%)
Grade
<0.001
Well differentiated
414 (18.5%)
307 (20.5%)
107 (14.6%)
Moderate/Poor/ Undifferentiated
1725 (77.2%)
1125 (75.1%)
600 (81.6%)
Unknown
95 (4.3%)
67 (4.5%)
28 (3.8%)
Surgery
0.009
Lumpectomy/ Partial Mastectomy
1481 (66.3%)
1021 (68.1%)
460 (62.6%)
Mastectomy
753 (33.7%)
478 (31.9%)
275 (37.4%)
Adjuvant chemotherapy
0.028
No
1247 (55.8%)
861 (57.4%)
386 (52.5%)
Yes
987 (44.2%)
638 (42.6%)
349 (47.5%)
Charlson comorbidity index (CCI)a
<0.001
None
1459 (65.3%)
1019 (68.0%)
440 (59.9%)
1
440 (19.7%)
275 (18.3%)
165 (22.4%)
2
136 (6.1%)
82 (5.5%)
54 (7.3%)
3+
111 (5.0%)
52 (3.5%)
59 (8.0%)
Unknown
88 (3.9%)
71 (4.7%)
17 (2.3%)
Deprivation indexb
<0.001
Q1
420 (18.8%)
406 (27.1%)
14 (1.9%)
Q2
436 (19.5%)
395 (26.4%)
41 (5.6%)
Q3
478 (21.4%)
417 (27.8%)
61 (8.3%)
Q4
501 (22.4%)
211 (14.1%)
290 (39.5%)
Q5
397 (17.8%)
68 (4.5%)
329 (44.8%)
Unknown
2 (0.1%)
2 (0.1%)
0 (0.0%)
Insurance
0.020
Private
1370 (61.3%)
947 (63.2%)
423 (57.6%)
Medicare
780 (34.9%)
503 (33.6%)
277 (37.7%)
Otherc
84 (3.8%)
49 (3.3%)
35 (4.8%)
-value calculations do not include unknown values.
aThe Charlson comorbidity index (CCI) is a prospectively verified method for classifying comorbid medical conditions which could affect the risk of mortality in longitudinal studies.
bNeighborhood economic deprivation was assessed through a material deprivation index (DI) that captures multiple dimensions of the economic and social conditions of neighborhoods including unemployment, poverty, residential overcrowding, as well as telephone and automobile availability. Quintile 1 indicates less economic deprivation.
cThe other category included 23 self-pay or uninsured, 24 government sponsored MHO, 29 Medicaid, 2 CHAMPUS and 2 insurance pending.
