Race is not a factor in overall survival in patients with triple negative breast cancer: a retrospective review

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine if race is a factor on overall survival when stage at diagnosis is compared. In this study, a total of 93 women with triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) were evaluated for survival outcomes after diagnosis between the year 2000 through 2010. Thirty-five patients (38%) were African American (AA), and 58 patients (62%) were Caucasian. Overall survival rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method and compared between groups using the log-rank test. Student’s t-test was used to calculate differences in cancer recurrence and mortality rates by stage and race. Cox proportional hazards ratios were used to determine the association of patient and variables with clinical outcome. Of women diagnosed with stage 1 breast cancer, the overall survival rates for AAs was 100% compared to Caucasians at 94% (95% CI, 0.003 to 19; P = 0.5). For women with stage 2 breast cancer, overall survival for AA women was 85% and for Caucasian women was 86% (HR = 0.8; 95% CI, 0.3 to 2.6; P = 0.73). For advanced stages (stage 3 and 4), survival for AA women were 78% and 40% for Caucasian women (HR = 0.6; 95% CI 0.2 to 1.98; P = 0.43). Rates of recurrence and mortality were not significantly different between AA and Caucasian TNBC patients. After controlling for patient variables, race was not significantly associated with OS (HR = 1.24; 95% CI, 0.32 to 5.08; P = 0.74) when comparing AA to Caucasian patients. Our study suggests that race does not have an effect on overall survival in African American and Caucasian women diagnosed with TNBC in Arkansas.

Incidence and prognosis of non‐metastatic triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) among different races in Southeast Asia

“…Despite varying incidences of TNBC in the Asian population, there remains sparse literature correlating the effect of race to survival in Asian patients with TNBC. Literature in the western countries, on the other hand has shown conflicting results with some studies demonstrating no difference in terms of OS and DFS between African Americans (AA) and Caucasian women with TNBC despite the fact that AA women had a higher incidence of TNBC compared to white patients . Specifically, no difference in breast cancer specific survival (BCSS) was found between the race of AA and Caucasian women with TNBC .…”