SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 2

2
WORKING TO
UNDERSTAND
RACIAL
DISPARITIES
D
espite having a 4% lower
incidence of breast
cancer, Black women are
approximately 40% more likely to die
from breast cancer and are diagnosed
at later stages and increased ages
compared to white patients. In
addition, there are few data regarding
why outcomes are worse for Black
women, although, as noted by patient
advocate Thelma Brown in the Clinical
Research Workshop on December 6,
2022, fewer than 5% of clinical trial
participants overall are Black women.
A number of abstracts, posters, and
educational presentations highlighted
various aspects of racial disparities, two
of which are discussed here.
"
Yara Abdou, MD, presenter
The RxPONDER trial found non-Hispanic Black women
with hormone receptor (HR)-positive/HER2-negative lymph
node-positive breast cancer have worse outcomes when compared
with non-Hispanic white, Hispanic, and Asian women,
despite having similar predicted risk of disease recurrence
and response to therapy. Using the 21-gene recurrence score,
which measures the expression levels in tumor tissue of 21
genes to predict therapeutic response and the risk of disease
recurrence, Dr. Yara Abdou and colleagues noted that, across
all racial subgroups, there were no significant differences in
tumor size or number of involved lymph nodes, and 21-gene
recurrence scores were similar (25 or less).
» 4,048 women with hormone
receptor/HER2-negative breast
cancer (1-3 positive axillary
lymph nodes; intermediate or
low risk)
» Study demographics
regarding race
(self-identified)
* 70% - Non-Hispanic White
* 6.1% - Non-Hispanic Black
* 15.1% - Hispanic
* 8.0% - Asian
» Frequency of high-grade
tumors
* 17.1% - Non-Hispanic Black
* 14.1% - Hispanic
* 10.2% - Non-Hispanic White
* 6.5% - Asian
» No disease and alive at
5 years
* 93.9% - Asian
* 91.5% - Non-Hispanic White
* 91.4% - Hispanic
* 87.2% - Non-Hispanic Black
T
Yara Abdou, MD
In accordance with previous studies, our
results indicate racial disparities in breast
cancer, particularly in HR-positive breast
cancer. These differences were observed
despite analyzing a carefully chosen and
somewhat uniformly treated study population,
suggesting that biological factors other than
disparities in care may be contributing to
inferior outcomes in racial minorities. "
he 2022 data is an update from
2020 RxPONDER data, which
showed the addition of chemotherapy
to endocrine therapy was
beneficial for premenopausal but
not postmenopausal women in the
trial. These more recent data show
that race is not a factor in the relative
benefit from added chemotherapy.
As to why Black women have
worse outcomes, more study is
needed; however, RxPONDER
reported that Black patients were
more likely to adhere to endocrine
therapy both at 6 and 12 months.
2022 SABCS TAKEAWAYS EDITION
BY THE NUMBERS

SABCS 2022 Takeaways

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SABCS 2022 Takeaways

SABCS 2022 Takeaways - A
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 1
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 2
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 3
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 4
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 5
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 6
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 7
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 8
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 9
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 10
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 11
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 12
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 13
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 14
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 15
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 16
SABCS 2022 Takeaways - 17
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com