Regional and racial disparities in breast cancer-specific mortality

Where and how one lives is associated with cancer survival. This study was designed to assess geographical region of residence, race/ethnicity, and clinical and socioeconomic factors as predictors of survival in a population based cohort of women with breast cancer followed for up to 12 years. In a cohort of 218,879 breast cancer patients >20 years of age at diagnosis, registered in the database of the US National Cancer Instituteʹs Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program between 1990 and 2001, we analyzed the association of breast cancer-specific survival with SEER region; age; stage; histology; hormone receptor status; race/ethnicity; and census data on educational attainment, income, employment, and insurance coverage. We compared Kaplan–Meier survival curves by region and race/ethnicity. We used Cox proportional hazards regression models to assess the association of mortality with region, race/ethnicity, and the other variables.