July 1, 2002American Journal of Public Health90 citationsOpen Access
Mammography Screening and Differences in Stage of Disease by Race/Ethnicity
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Key Points
- The study aims to investigate how routine mammography screening influences breast cancer staging across different racial and ethnic groups.
- Utilized a mammography database from 1990 to 1998 with 5182 women in metropolitan Denver.
- Analyzed 1902 incident breast cancer cases and their tumor stage distribution based on screening participation.
- Controlled for potential confounding factors to assess stage differences among racial/ethnic cohorts.
- Women participating in routine screenings had earlier-stage disease by 5 to 13 percentage points across racial/ethnic groups.
- White women demonstrated a higher likelihood of being diagnosed with early-stage disease compared to Black and Hispanic women.
- Screening disparities did not fully explain the stage differences observed among Black and Hispanic women.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: We examined the effect of routine screening on breast cancer staging by race/ethnicity. METHODS: We used a 1990 to 1998 mammography database (N = 5182) of metropolitan Denver, Colo, women to examine each racial/ethnic cohort's incident cancer cases (n = 1902) and tumor stage distribution given similar patterns of routine screening use. RESULTS: Regardless of race/ethnicity, women participating in routine screenings had earlier-stage disease by 5 to 13 percentage points. After control for possible confounding factors, White women were more likely to have early-stage disease compared with Black and Hispanic women. CONCLUSIONS: Lack of screening coverage in certain racial/ethnic populations has often been cited as a reason for tumor stage differences at detection. In this study, correcting for screening did not completely reduce stage differentials among Black and Hispanic women.
Cite This Study
Jacobellis et al. (2002) studied this question.