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【medical-news】肿瘤生物学可用来部分解释乳腺癌
Tumor Biology Might In Part Account For Racial Discrepancy In Breast Cancer Outcomes, Study Says
Black women living with breast cancer are more likely than white or Hispanic women with breast cancer to have larger tumors at the time of diagnosis and are more likely to have estrogen receptor-negative cancer, which is more difficult to treat, according to a study that will be published in the December issue of the journal Cancer, the New York Times reports (Bakalar, New York Times, 10/24). Wendy Woodward, assistant professor of radiation oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and colleagues enrolled 2,140 women in the Houston area in the study with the aim of determining tumor biology differences among racial groups. About 24% of the black patients had later-stage breast cancer and tumors larger than five centimeters, compared with 16% of whites and 18% of Hispanics (Ackerman, Houston Chronicle, 10/24). All of the participants had advanced local breast cancer but did not show signs of metastasis, according to the study. The average age of diagnosis was 49 for whites, 47 for Hispanics and 50 for blacks, and all participants had breast surgery before enrollment in the study. In addition, the women were followed for an average of 10 years. All of the participants -- 1,456 of whom underwent chemotherapy after mastectomy and 684 before mastectomy -- were given the "same medical attention," according to the Times.
Study Findings, Limitations, Reaction
After statistically adjusting for differences in tumor size and ER-negative tumors at the time of diagnosis, the study found that 10-year survival rates among women who received chemotherapy before mastectomy was 50% for whites and 40% for blacks. Among women who received chemotherapy after surgery, 10-year survival rates were 52% for blacks and 62% for both whites and Hispanics. The study also found that the survival rate among women who underwent chemotherapy after mastectomy and whose cancer had not spread to other organs was lower among blacks compared with whites and Hispanics. According to the Times, researchers did not suggest a potential mechanism to account for their findings, and the study did not control for chemotherapy doses and socioeconomic status. The researchers said that blacks and Hispanics in Houston have similar demographics, but Hispanic participants had survival rates equal to or higher than the white participants (New York Times, 10/24). "This doesn't mean every African-American woman is going to have a bad outcome," Woodward said, adding, "But is does suggest commonality that puts some at higher risk, and that should prompt us to develop better therapies for those women" (Houston Chronicle, 10/24). According to the researchers, the study's findings indicate that the best way to further research the effects of tumor biology and race on treatment outcomes would be to conduct randomized trials of breast cancer treatments that take into account socioeconomic status and additional factors (New York Times, 10/24). Peggy Porter, a researcher at Seattle-based Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, said, "This study adds to the growing body of evidence that both tumor biology and access to care and other important socioeconomic factors are involved in lower survival rates seen among African-American women with breast cancer" (Houston Chronicle, 10/24). According to the American Cancer Society, 211,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with breast cancer annually, and 40,000 die from it (Reuters, 10/23).
Boston Adds Web Site to 'Pink and Black' Breast Cancer Program
Boston's "Pink and Black" breast cancer campaign, which aims to raise awareness about how the disease affects blacks, recently added the Web site pinkandblack.org to the program's advertisements, posters and a van offering low-cost mammography, the Boston Globe reports. The Boston Public Health Commission and Mayor Thomas Menino (D) in October 2005 launched the campaign, which includes an ad featuring black cancer survivors. The program's ambassadors also speak to young women and church groups about breast self-examinations and breast cancer awareness. Some ambassadors also are preparing to make a short film in January about their experiences with breast cancer (Samuels, Boston Globe, 10/23).
"Reprinted with permission from http://www.kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at http://www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved. 本人已认领该文编译，48小时后若未提交译文，请其他战友自由认领。 肿瘤生物学可用来部分解释乳腺癌的种族差异
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2010-11-22 05:11
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