scholarly journals Investigating racial disparities in use of NK1 receptor antagonists to prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting among breast cancer patients.

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (7_suppl) ◽  
pp. 292-292
Author(s):  
Devon Check ◽  
Katherine Elizabeth Reeder-Hayes ◽  
Ethan M. Basch ◽  
Leah L. Zullig ◽  
Morris Weinberger ◽  
...  

292 Background: Chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) is a major concern for cancer patients and, if uncontrolled, it can have serious implications for patients’ treatment outcomes, including quality of life. Guidelines recommend the use of an NK1 receptor antagonist to prevent CINV among patients beginning chemotherapy with a high risk of causing the side effect. However, barriers to use of oral NK1s (i.e., aprepitant) exist. In many cases, patients are required to fill a prescription for aprepitant at their home pharmacy. As well, the drug is expensive, costing over $500 under Medicare Part D, and patients may be responsible for a large portion of that cost. These barriers may contribute to racial disparities as they disproportionately affect minority patients. Methods: We used 2006-2012 SEER-Medicare data to evaluate the use of NK1s among black and white women initiating adjuvant chemotherapy with an anthracylcline and cyclophosphamide for early-stage breast cancer. NK1 use during the first chemotherapy cycle was measured using Medicare Part D and Part B claims. We used modified Poisson regression to assess the relationship between race and (1) any NK1 use, (2) oral NK1 (aprepitant) use, and (3) intravenous NK1 (fosaprepitant) use. We report adjusted risk ratios (aRR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Of 1,015 eligible women (911 white; 104 black), 38% of white and 28% of black women received any NK1 at the start of their chemotherapy regimen. In adjusted analyses, black women were 30% less likely than white women to receive any NK1 (aRR black vs. white: 0.70, 95% CI: 0.52-0.94). This disparity was driven by a 44% gap in orally administered NK1s (aprepitant) (aRR: 0.56 95% CI: 0.35-0.89). We did not observe disparities in intravenous fosaprepitant use (aRR: 0.77, 95% CI: 0.46-1.28, NS). After controlling for variables related to socioeconomic status, disparities in NK1 and aprepitant use were reduced but not eliminated. Conclusions: Our study found racial disparities in women’s use of oral NK1s for the prevention of CINV. These disparities may be partly explained by racial differences in women’s ability to afford the medication.

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e17602-e17602
Author(s):  
Liliana E Pezzin ◽  
Purushottam Laud ◽  
Emily McGinley ◽  
Ann Nattinger

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (30_suppl) ◽  
pp. 2-2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alana Biggers ◽  
Joan Neuner ◽  
Elizabeth Smith ◽  
John A. Charlson ◽  
Liliana Pezzin ◽  
...  

2 Background: Breast cancer outcomes are worse among black than white women, but the role of income and out-of-pocket costs (OOPCs) in these disparities is understudied. The Medicare D program provided medication insurance for older women and also included a low-income subsidy (LIS) which eliminated or reduced OOPCs among women with low assets and limited income (based on federal poverty level). We examined differences in adherence to HT by race/ethnicity among a Medicare D population, hypothesizing that LIS might reduce racial disparities in HT adherence. Methods: With data collected from a national sample of women enrolled in Medicare Parts A, B, and D, we identified Medicare Part D enrollees ≥65 years diagnosed with breast cancer who underwent mastectomy or breast conserving surgery in 2006-07 and received either tamoxifen or an AI (anastrozole, letrozole, or exemestane) within one year of surgery. Nonadherence rates (medication possession rate of >0.80) were calculated by race and LIS status for each year after first fill up through December 2011. The association of race with HT adherence was examined in unadjusted Chi-square analyses and in regression models adjusted for age, comorbidity, chemotherapy use, and zip code level- income and education. All models utilized GEE to account for within-patient clustering. Results: Among a sample of 23,299 women (50.6% age 65-74, 40.9% age 75-84), 27.2% received LIS. LIS (but not AI use) varied substantially by race, so that 20.6% of white women and 69.7% of black women received the subsidy. In the first year of therapy, differences in adherence by race were statistically significant, but small (64.2% for white, 63.2% for black and 66.7% for Hispanic). Adherence dropped during years 2-3 of the study, but reductions were much smaller among LIS recipients. Results were confirmed in adjusted models. Conclusions: Enrollment in the Medicare D LIS was high among black and Hispanic breast cancer patients, and disparities in adherence to breast cancer HT among these women were small and remained so over three years. Our study offers important information about the role of medication subsidies and SES in adherence, and suggests their potential to reduce the breast cancer outcomes gap by race.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 1084-1084
Author(s):  
Julia Blanter ◽  
Ilana Ramer ◽  
Justina Ray ◽  
Emily J. Gallagher ◽  
Nina A. Bickell ◽  
...  

1084 Background: Black women diagnosed with breast cancer are more likely to have a poor prognosis, regardless of breast cancer subtype. Despite having a lower incidence rate of breast cancer when compared to white women, black women have the highest breast cancer death rate of all racial and ethnic groups, a characteristic often attributed to late stage at diagnosis. Distant metastases are considered the leading cause of death from breast cancer. We performed a follow up study of women with breast cancer in the Mount Sinai Health System (MSHS) to determine differences in distant metastases rates among black versus white women. Methods: Women were initially recruited as part of an NIH funded cross-sectional study from 2013-2020 to examine the link between insulin resistance (IR) and breast cancer prognosis. Women self-identified as black or white race. Data was collected via retrospective analysis of electronic medical records (EMR) between September 2020-January 2021. Distant metastases at diagnosis was defined as evidence of metastases in a secondary organ (not lymph node). Stage at diagnosis was recorded for all patients. Distant metastases after diagnosis was defined as evidence of metastases at any time after initiation of treatment. Univariate analysis was performed using Fisher’s exact test, multivariate analysis was performed by binary logistic regression, and results expressed as odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). A p value <0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: We identified 441 women enrolled in the IR study within the MSHS (340 white women, 101 black women). Median follow up time for all women was 2.95 years (median = 3.12 years for white and 2.51 years for black women (p=0.017)). Among these patients, 11 developed distant metastases after diagnosis: 4 (1.2%) white and 7 (6.9%) black (p=0.004). Multivariate analysis adjusting for age, race and stage at diagnosis revealed that black women were more likely to have distant metastasis (OR 5.8, CI 1.3-25.2), as were younger women (OR for age (years) 0.9, CI 0.9-1.0), and those with more advanced stage at diagnosis. Conclusions: Black women demonstrated a far higher percentage of distant metastases after diagnosis even when accounting for age and stage. These findings suggest that racial disparities still exist in the development of distant metastases, independent from a late-stage diagnosis. The source of existing disparities needs to be further understood and may be found in surveillance, treatment differences, or follow up.


2018 ◽  
Vol 84 (6) ◽  
pp. 881-888
Author(s):  
Matthew P. Doepker ◽  
Scott D. Holt ◽  
Martin W. Durkin ◽  
Christopher H. Chu ◽  
James M. Nottingham

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer with a high prevalence in blacks. South Carolina demographically has a high percentage of blacks. This study examines survival and recurrence associated with TNBC in black and white women. A retrospective review of breast cancer patients within the Palmetto Health Cancer Registry was performed from 1999 to 2015. Patient demographics and tumor characteristics were collected and correlated with outcomes. Overall survival (OS), disease-specific survival (DSS), and recurrence-free survival (RFS) were analyzed. The total number of breast cancer patients in the registry was 1723 (1085—white and 638—black). The median follow-up was 48.4 months. The majority of cancers diagnosed in both cohorts were early stage (I, IIA, IIB, 93.4% vs 90.4% P = NS). We identified 332 patients with TNBC. Of those 332 patients, 144 (43.4%) were whites and 188 (56.6%) were blacks. Older age (P = 0.01), high-grade (P < 0.001), and black race (P < 0.001) were significantly associated with TNBC on multivariate analysis. Five- and 10-year OS was significantly worse in blacks with TNBC (P < 0.001). There was no difference in DSS or RFS between the two cohorts. TNBC disproportionately affects black women and is an aggressive subtype of breast cancer with limited treatment options compared with receptor-positive breast cancer. Black patients with TNBC in our study had statistically worse OS. These findings are similar to what has been reported in the literature and prompts further research in newer targeted therapies.


2016 ◽  
Vol 156 (2) ◽  
pp. 351-359 ◽  
Author(s):  
Devon K. Check ◽  
Katherine E. Reeder-Hayes ◽  
Ethan M. Basch ◽  
Leah L. Zullig ◽  
Morris Weinberger ◽  
...  

SpringerPlus ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Butler Nattinger ◽  
Liliana E Pezzin ◽  
Emily L McGinley ◽  
John A Charlson ◽  
Tina W F Yen ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 6534-6534
Author(s):  
Alana Biggers ◽  
Joan Neuner ◽  
Elizabeth Smith ◽  
Liliana Pezzin ◽  
Purushottam Laud ◽  
...  

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (22) ◽  
pp. 2610-2618 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Marie McCarthy ◽  
Mirar Bristol ◽  
Susan M. Domchek ◽  
Peter W. Groeneveld ◽  
Younji Kim ◽  
...  

Purpose Racial disparities in BRCA1/2 testing have been documented, but causes of these disparities are poorly understood. The study objective was to investigate whether the distribution of black and white patients across cancer providers contributes to disparities in BRCA1/2 testing. Patients and Methods We conducted a population-based study of women in Pennsylvania and Florida who were 18 to 64 years old and diagnosed with invasive breast cancer between 2007 and 2009, linking cancer registry data, the American Medical Association Physician Masterfile, and patient and physician surveys. The study included 3,016 women (69% white, 31% black), 808 medical oncologists, and 732 surgeons. Results Black women were less likely to undergo BRCA1/2 testing than white women (odds ratio [OR], 0.40; 95% CI, 0.34 to 0.48; P < .001). This difference was attenuated but not eliminated by adjustment for mutation risk, clinical factors, sociodemographic characteristics, and attitudes about testing (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P < .001). The care of black and white women was highly segregated across surgeons and oncologists (index of dissimilarity 64.1 and 61.9, respectively), but adjusting for clustering within physician or physician characteristics did not change the size of the testing disparity. Black women were less likely to report that they had received physician recommendation for BRCA1/2 testing even after adjusting for mutation risk (OR, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.82; P < .001). Adjusting for physician recommendation further attenuated the testing disparity (OR, 0.76; 95% CI, 0.57 to 1.02; P = .06). Conclusion Although black and white patients with breast cancer tend to see different surgeons and oncologists, this distribution does not contribute to disparities in BRCA1/2 testing. Instead, residual racial differences in testing after accounting for patient and physician characteristics are largely attributable to differences in physician recommendations. Efforts to address these disparities should focus on ensuring equity in testing recommendations.


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