New research from the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) shows that racial disparities in breast cancer mortality cannot be attributed to lower chemotherapy doses in African-American women. Past research has shown that African-American women with breast cancer are more likely to die from their disease than white women. The information was presented at the 2005 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting by Charles R. Thomas Jr., MD, professor and vice chairman in the department of radiation oncology and professor of medical oncology at the Health Science Center, and colleagues.
African-Americans tend to have lower baseline white blood cells counts than whites. Many anticancer drugs reduce white blood cell counts further, increasing a patient’s risk of contracting infection. Researchers hypothesized that some doctors may be giving African-American women with breast cancer lower doses of chemotherapy than white women to avert dangerous drops in white blood cell counts, and that such less-intensive chemotherapy could explain the higher mortality rates.
“Patients, families, and cancer specialists should be encouraged to know that giving full doses of adjuvant doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide to women with breast cancer is possible for African-American, as well as white patients.” Dr. Thomas said speaking on behalf of the NSABP Breast Committee. “These findings can help ensure that the same quality of care is offered to patients of both races.”
NSABP investigators compared the white blood cell count and chemotherapy dose (the drugs doxorubicin and cyclophosphamide) given to 1,041 African-American women and 9,639 white women with breast cancer. Baseline white blood cell counts were 7% to 8% lower in African-Americans than whites. Despite this difference, there was no evidence that African-American women received less doxorubicin or cyclophosphamide than white patients.
The NSABP is a not-for-profit, clinical trials cooperative group, which includes a network of over 300 professionals located in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. Research conducted by the NSABP is supported primarily by grants from the National Cancer Institute (NCI). For more than 40 years, the NSABP has successfully conducted large-scale, randomized clinical trials in colorectal and breast cancer that have altered and improved the standard of care for men and women with these diseases.
The original version of this article was released by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) May 14. To view the full article, click on www.nsabp.pitt.edu/.
