Abstract C018: Two decades of breast cancer burden in Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center catchment area

Abstract Introduction and study purpose: Breast cancer burden in the Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center catchment area (HMNCC-CA) is concerning. Non-Hispanic Black persons make up one-fifth of the HMNCC-CA population and experience the highest mortality rates of any racial/ethnic group, putting them at a significantly greater risk. A high prevalence of chronic conditions like obesity, in our CA (over 30% obese), compounds the risk of developing multiple cancers, including breast. We examined the longitudinal trends of breast cancer incidence and mortality in our region to pinpoint the geographic regions that are in greatest need of targeted cancer prevention and control efforts. Methodology: The NCI’s Joinpoint regression was used to model longitudinal trends in breast cancer, one of the HMNCC’s priority cancers. We used NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database for 2000 – 2022. We computed the average annual percentage change (AAPC) for age-adjusted incidence and mortality using Joinpoint. Longitudinal trends were compared across three regions: (i) HMNCC 8 county catchment area (HMNCC-CA), (ii) Texas, and (iii)the U.S. Our 8-county CA is comprised of Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston, Harris, Jefferson, Liberty and Montgomery Counties. We further analyzed the rate-trends across race/ethnicity in our CA using the Texas Cancer Registry (TCR) data. Results: Across regions, no statistically significant differences in AAPCs were observed in breast cancer incidence (2000 – 2022), with AAPCs close to 0% for all three regions. For breast cancer mortality, we observed significantly decreasing age-adjusted rates with the AAPCs for HMNCC-CA -1.72% (95% CI: -2.05% to -1.40%), for Texas -1.21% (95% CI: -1.39% to -1.04%) and for US -1.56% (95% CI: -1.60% to -1.51%). When comparing race/ethnicity trends in our CA, we notice that non-Hispanic White and Black residents had the highest incidence rates over time, compared to other groups, with relatively stable rates over time. Non-Hispanic Asian and Hispanic residents observed increasing breast cancer incidence rates with statistically significant AAPCs of 2.81% (95% CI, 1.74% to 3.79%) and 0.62% (95% CI, 0.02 to 1.22) respectively. For breast cancer mortality, non-Hispanic Black residents experienced 1.5 fold compared to non-Hispanic whites. Conclusions: Similar to what is observed nationally, our region experienced sustained higher breast cancer mortality rates, among Black women, over the last 20 years indicating significant racial disparities for breast cancer mortality rates in our region. There is an uptick in incidence rates in Hispanic and Asian women in our region. With their expected population growth in the next decade, it will be important to anticipate and prepare for the increased cancer burden and identify the likely risk factors. As a future direction, we are building a cancer “exposome” linking cancer rates at the census tract level with social determinants, and cancer risk factors to inform CPC-COE initiatives for our most medically vulnerable communities in our region. Citation Format: Anil Kumar Vadathya, Catherine Wu, Nestor F. Esnaola, Dimpy Shah, Hung Luu, Sadeer Al-Kindi, Arica A. Brandford, Jennifer Cullen. Two decades of breast cancer burden in Houston Methodist Neal Cancer Center catchment area abstract. In: Proceedings of the 18th AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities; 2025 Sep 18-21; Baltimore, MD. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev 2025;34(9 Suppl):Abstract nr C018.