Racial/ethnic differences in breast cancer survival among San Francisco Bay Area women

Considerable attention has been directed to the observation that the ageadjusted incidence of female breast cancer in the San Francisco Bay Area (114 per 100 000 persons) 1 is higher than the national incidence (109 per 100 000 persons) 2 and is approximately 50% higher than in most European countries ( 1 ) . Although breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the San Francisco Bay Area, its incidence varies substantially by racial/ethnic group (average annual age-adjusted rates per 100 000 persons, 1988-1993, of 128 for whites, 102 for blacks, 86 for Japanese, 83 for Hispanics, 76 for Filipinos, and 69 for Chinese). The high incidence and racial/ethnic variation in breast cancer rates in our region prompted us to examine corresponding patterns in survival, particularly inasmuch as breast cancer survival among women in many racial/ethnic groups (i.e., non-white and non-black) remains relatively understudied ( 2 – 4 ) . The purpose of this analysis was to characterize breast cancer survival among the six largest racial/ethnic groups in the San Francisco Bay Area and to examine stage at diagnosis as an explanatory factor for observed differences.